Road Less Travelled
Black Beyond
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There really was only one word that captured
Usagi perfectly. It was a simple word that
implied everything from heaven to hell and all
inbetween: different. Usagi was different. She
was different in every way a person could be
different. Her eyes, the color of silver, were
old and sad and filled with venom. How this
mixture was possible was beyond most, but those
who had seen what she had seen knew her feelings.
Maybe there was another word. Most likely, there
was, somewhere in the large expanse of languages
humanity has. Pehaps lonely would have fit.
Definatly not shy or confused, strange was the
better of those.
Not one of them fit as well as the simple word
different did, though. It didn't matter much
which word they chose, though. In the end, none
of them would venture near her, or even try to
find out if she really was as she seemed.
That was fine with her. That was the way she
liked it. If there were no people, then there
were no people to explain things to. Usagi had
her own way of doing things, and she'd been
teased by one of her rare friend that in that
aspect-- and that aspect alone-- she was like an
old woman. In all other ways she was the rebel,
the warrior. Skilled and deadly.
She was beautiful; denying that would be
painfully dishonest. She was the moonbeam
personalized, as pale as the moon they fell from
and as lithe as the wind itself. Her long hair,
so blonde it was white, cascaded down her back.
Her one true pride was that hair; the one thing
she had inherited from her mother that didn't
have any strings attached.
She wasn't exactly an orphan, though it was true
her parents were dead. But she had made a pretty
good life for herself, and friends that helped
her out. Friends that were more than friends,
they'd seen her in action and were her true
guardians, her sisters in arm.
That was, she was on her own until she'd been
discovered. It was only inevitable that someone
would discover she was on her own. And even more
so that would try to place her in care of a
respectable family. That didn't mean she had to
like it.
She was placed in a foster home, many of them,
in fact. Always moving. Until three days ago. Up
until
three days ago she had been jostled around in
different
homes for five years. Now she was sixteen, and
someone
adopted her.
Adopted: the very word made her shudder. She
liked moving. That way she only had to stay in
the same
school for a little while. Less time with the
other students. She didn't like them, for she
resented their innocence. Innocence was something
she'd never been able to have, something taken
from her before she could clearly remember.
This new family liked her. They were the perfect
model family: a working, ruggedly handsome
father; a caring stay-at-home mother; the
perfect, idolizing brother-with-a-quick-mouth. As
much as she hated to admit it, she liked them,
even in their naivity. They gave her her own
room, and enrolled her at Juuban High School.
They gave her a family name, Tsukino. She hadn't
wanted to go to high school. She had scored high
enough on the placement exams to be enrolled in a
college, but they wouldn't allow it.
She was being different again.
* * *
She hummed a long forgotten melody to herself as
she walked to school, dressed in her new school
fuku, a hideous imataion of a sailor's outfit, in
dark, morbid hues that, in her opinion, were
shamed by the monstosity they colored.
She shot a glare made of the most frigid ice at
anyone who dared meet her eyes as she entered the
schoolyards. A small, nagging sense of insecurity
tugged at the very outermost edges of her mind,
but she shoved it away quickly and held her chin
up. She never had been timid, and wasn't about to
act it.
"While I'm here I might as well try to kill all
the rumors..." she muttered to herself as she
entered the courtyard. The students were roaming
around the grassy yard freely, talking, chatting.
She walked over to a deserted tree and leaned up
against it, looking over the various people,
wondering how they all fit together--
"HIDEE HO!" A very annoying voice shouted right
behind her. She spun around, adreniline starting
to pump in her system. A boy, shorter than her,
with strange swirly glasses stood there. "I'm
Um... in... o...."
His voice trailed into nothing as he saw the icy
fire in Usagi's eyes. He giggled nervously and
began backing away quickly. When he was about
three meters away from her he turned and ran off,
yelling something about killers.
She had no idea what he was so upset about.
Really.
She turned back around and this time put her back
up against the tree. It was better to have your
back guarded anyway. No one else approached her.
Even though she saw guys looking at her, and
girls staring. She heard a bell and decided that
these were like the rest.
Innocent.
Ignorant.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Usagi retreated to the large maple of which she'd
stood by that morning when the lunch bell rang.
She sat at it's base with her base propped up
against it, and sighed, watching the world
through half-lidded eyes.
"My name's Ami. What's your's?"
She started when she heard a voice, nervous but
female, close to her. She turned and saw a girl
of medium height, with short blue hair and dark
blue eyes.
Odd.
Before answering, Usagi looked at Ami's bright
eyes again. They were clouded but frank, and she
knew right off that Ami wasn't a good liar. These
eyes revealed everything she thought about.
This girl was not an ignorant. Nor was she an
innocent. This girl knew what pain was. True
pain, the kind that didn't stop with bones or
skin, the kind that struck straight through and
clawed at your soul, the kind of pain that
lingered in your nightmares...
"I'm Usagi." She answered carefully. "Just
Usagi."
"It's nice to meet you, Usagi. I was half afraid
you wouldn't answer me. You've been glaring at
everyone all day." Ami sounded relieved, and a
smile broke out on her lips.
"Feel lucky. You seemed nice enough." Usagi
didn't smile but the words were kind. "And I've
been glaring at me because they're staring."
"Haven't you ever looked in a mirror? You're
gorgeous-- of course they're staring!" A girl
with long blonde hair, slightly taller than Ami
but with the same haunted eyes popped out from
behind the tree. Though Usagi didn't like the
idea that this girl might have been
eavesdropping, she felt vaguely connected to her.
"Oh. I'm Minako! Hello, Usagi."
"Hello, Minako." Usagi grinned in a way Minako
found disturbing. "And you might as well tell
them they will have no luck what-so-ever. The
last boyfriend I had came to an... well, let's
just say he won't have kids--ever."
"Ouch. Low blow." Another girl stepped out from
behind the infamous tree. This girl was tall, but
not overly so, with beautiful chesnut hair pulled
up into a ponytail and emerald eyes that
carefully hid her emotions.
"Thanks. How many more of you are there?" Usagi
glared at Minako, who shrank back a bit and then
transferred the glare to the other girl, who
didn't seem fazed at all.
"I'm Makoto." She said, holding out her hand in a
universal gesture of treaty. Usagi felt something
she hadn't bothered to feel in a long time:
surprise. Full grown adult males had backed away
under that stare, the stare that promised
everything their nightmares loved to tease them
with. Instead of taking Makoto's hand, she tilted
her head to the side slightly.
"You're one to wonder about, Makoto. No one else
had stood up to forever." Her eyes seemed
distance for the fleetest of seconds, remembering
the one person who would stand up to her.
She shoved the memory away.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Makoto
shrugged.
"I've never seen eyes like your's! Are they
silver, or is it just the light?" Minako bent
down slightly to take a better look. Usagi looked
into Minako's eyes as well, searching for
anything. What she found was the deepestsort of
pain. Lots of it. This girl was happy only to
cover her meloncoly mood.
"You're freaky! Way cool!" Minako nearly
strangled Usagi as she hugged her. Usagi gasped
for breath.
"Oh, look. The freak squad have found a new
member." A boy Usagi had seen once that morning
snorted. A pretty redhead hung on his arm and a
group of brutes hung behind him. The wilder girls
looked at him with worship in their eyes.
Usagi's lips went into a scowl and she leapt to
her feet and started off in his direction. Makoto
nearly panicked. She grabbed Usagi's wrist to
stop the new girl from advancing.
"No, Usagi. That's Ryco. He'll destroy you-- and
if *he* doesn't, his gang will." She pleaded, in
a low voice.
"I would love to see them try. God knows I could
use the entertainment." Usagi murmured and jerked
free. Her fighting skills had long ago been honed
to near-perfection. If this human could get past
them, then he was no human and it would give her
grounds to kill him.
"Look at her! Silver hair! What a weirdo!" The
girl that clung to Ryco's arms shrieked in a high
pitched whine, so shrill Usagi wondered if the
girl could kill a dog with it. She wondered how
Ryco could stand it.
"If you wouldn't mind, I prefer the term freak to
weirdo. And if any of you feel like trying to hit
a girl, try me." Usagi smiled sweetly but hr eyes
were cold. Minako and Ami gasped.
Makoto stared hard at Usagi. She was sure the
girl could take them-- she was also sure the girl
could and would kill them. It was just something
she felt. But she could not stop Usagi. That much
she knew.
"What?" It was a mocking, but surprised tone.
"The little pipsqueak challages me?! I know
you're new, babe, but surely you know that I and
my gang are all black belts." Ryco said, his tone
giving the threat away as a bluff.
"How weak." She dropped the smile faster than she
would a hot coal. "You would set them on me,
wouldn't you? You coward. Yuo dishonorable
coward. Why don't you come fight me yourself? You
know, be a maaaan." She smirked, her voice
dripping with sarcasm and mocking.
"Ryco, baby, you're not a coward. Show that bitch
where she belongs." The redhead whined, her voice
even shriller than before, if possible. Ami put
her hands to her ears.
"Why are you calling her that?" Makoto shot at
the girl. "She doesn't look like you or your
mother." Redhead let out an outraged scream that
made even Usagi flinch.
By that time, a thick ring of students had
gathered around them, all anxious to see what was
happening. The teachers pretended not to see.
They knew what was happening, but to mess with
Ryco usually led up to an unfortunant accident.
"What's it going to be?" Usagi asked. The smirk
on her face enraged Ryco beyond any reasonable
thought.
"Usagi-- maybe we should go--" Minako attempted
to give Usagi a chance to leave.
"No." Usagi said simply.
"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!!" A cry from the crowd
arose. In reply, Ryco pushed the redhead away
from him and went into a fightnig stance.
His thugs stepped forward, but Ryco motioned for
them to stay back also, his face set. Usagi
smiled wickedly. She lived to fight. Pity they
didn't know that.
"Alright, bitchie. You want to fight so bad?
Let's
go!" Ryco hissed, and lunged at her. She stepped
aside,
and did a high round house that hit him in the
face
twice. She took advantage of his stunned state
and
began to attack with the feirocity of a grizzly.
Ryco
managed to get in a few good hits now and then,
but he
knew the moment her foot connected with his face
that
the fight had already been decided. The students
looked
on with awe.
"I will win, bastard!" She hissed. Usagi had
years and years of training, skill, and
experience. Ryco had his brute force. The fight
was soon over, Ryco was battered. Beaten by a
girl. His lip was bleeding heavily. He wiped it
away with as much dignity as possible before
shoving his way through the crowd. His girlfriend
and gang followed. Usagi stood tall, her eyes
throwing fire at the crowd. Her only injury
appeared to be a swollen arm. It didn't hurt
much.
"Us-Usagi-- c-come on." Makoto stuttered. Usagi
turned to her. A gasp escaped from Minako's
throat at the look of wild rage in Usagi's icey
eyes.
"He will pay." She rasped.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Usagi! What if you had killed him? That was
uncalled for." It was much later and Usagi was in
her new room. A white panther paced around the
room, very much like a worried mother.
"Athena, calm down. He started the whole damn
thing. Don't worry... I'll get even. I'll play my
game with him." Usgai said, stretching out on the
bed. The panther jumped up there with her.
"Usagi," Athena, the panther, began, a look of
exasperation on it's face. "I trained you to
fight *for* good, not *against* it!"
"That beast is not good!"
"He is an innocent."
"And that suddenly makes himmsome goddamned angel
that I have to serve?"
"You are their guardian." Athena sighed.
"Doesn't mean I have to *like* them." Usagi
contradicted.
"You made some friends, I see." Athena changed
the subject before Usagi could work herself into
a fit.
"Yes, yes. Three. They're different, Luna.
They've seen pain and felt it, and they... I saw
in their eyes. They know of the shadows." Usagi
said, sitting up.
"No, they just realize there is more to the world
than happiness. None but you and I know of the
shadows. And it would be good for you to befriend
an innocent, as you call them. Make friends with
one." Athena said.
"Athena! I know what I saw! They know of them!
Whether they *know* they know or not, I saw it in
their eyes." Usagi jumped up. "Are you judging my
ability to read truths?"
"Well, then they were of the old kingdom. That's
it. And you must learn to control your anger. If
I hear of you injuring that boy again without his
provoking it, I will take away your powers away."
Athena said sternly. Footsteps were heard in the
hall. Usagi ran to the door and locked it, to
give Athena time.
Athena muttred a few words of another tongue and
she
shrank to the size of a house cat, her features
melding
until she looked like an ordinary cat.
"Usagi, may I come in?" It was Ikuko, Usagi's new
'mother'.
"Yeah, hold on." Usagi took a final look at
Athena and unlocked the door. Ikuko stepped
inside.
"There's some people downstairs. They say they
know you." Ikuko said. A scepital look was on her
face. Athena and Usagi looked at each other. Who
could it be?
"Um, er, okay." Usagi said. Athena followed her
out the doors and down the stairs. In the living
room, talking to her 'father' and 'brother', were
four very old friends.
"Haruka!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hey, Koneko. Long time no see." The blonde woman
said. Beside her was Michiru, Hotaru, and
Setsuna. Athena purred happily.
"I see Athena shrank a little, huh, Neko-chan?"
Hotaru, who looked much older than really was,
picked up the cat and scratched her ears. Athena
purred.
"Good." Michiru said. "Baka cat was too big
anyway."
"Usagi, why don't you introduce us to your
friends." Kenji asked/ordered.
"These four are the ones that cop told you about.
Ten'oh Haruka, Meioh Setsuna, Kaioh Michiru and
Tomoe Hotaru." She motioned to each as she spoke
their name. "Minna, this is my new family."
"We just dropped by to see if we could steal
Usagi for a drive." Haruka said. Athena looked
worried, and even more so as Hotaru whispered
something to it.
"Please? Can I?" Usagi pleaded. Ikuko looked at
Kenji, who shrugged.
"I suppose." He said finally. Usagi smiled and
grabbed Hotaru's arm. She dragged Hotaru to the
lemon yellow car outside. The other three
followed. They sped away, Haruka going way over
the speed limit.
"Okay. I know you guys don't just drop by for a
nice happy visit every once in a while. What's
up?" Athena said.
"What do you mean? Can't your protogee`s
guardians drop by every once in a while?" Haruka
asked innocently.
"Athena's mad because I kicked some baka's butt
today at school." Usagi said.
"Usagi, you nearly killed the boy!" Athena said.
"He was being a jerk!"
"He's a human!"
"Is not!"
"Hey, you two. Cut it out." Michiru laughed.
Setsuna turned to them.
"The shadows are back."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Small break to increase climatic tension.
...
...
...
...
...
...
That's long enough!
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ya know, Sets, you could have some *good* news
once in a while." Usagi groaned.
"The shadows? As in, THE Shadows?" Athena asked.
She let the magic go and reverted to her true
form, the white panther.
"No, baka. As in, the Egg shadows. OF COURSE
*THE* Shadows." Haruka rolled her eyes.
"Alright! A fight!" Usagi cheered. They all
stared at her.
"And we wonder why she gets in fights at school."
Michiru whispered.
"What is Ikuko and Kenji going to think when I
leave the house at two in the morning and come
back battered?" Usagi asked.
"Not well." Hotaru murmured.
"But you can't not fight." Haruka pointed out.
"Yes. We need you to fight. You're the only one
that can truely destroy the youma." Hotaru
pointed out.
"You need me! Ha!" Usagi cheered. Athena swatted
at her with a massive paw.
"Usagi, how are you going to fight? Those youma
don't exactly hold schedules." Athena asked.
"Explain to the teacher that they move or die?"
Usagi asked hopefully.
"Try again."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rei-chan, you've been acting weird." Minako
asked. Ami, Makoto, Minako, and another of their
friends, A girl named Hino Rei, were at the Crown
Arcade.
"No-nothing. Just something I saw in the fire."
Rei replied, avoiding their eyes.
"Bull." Makoto challenged the pathetic lie.
"Really." Rei insisted. Well, it *was* what she
saw in the fire-- but also what had happened
after wards. And she wasn't about to tell them
that!
"Rei-chan, I thought we were friends." Minako
pretended to act hurt.
"Hey, isn't that Usagi?" Ami asked, pointing to
the doors, where Usagi and four others had walked
in.
They went to a booth at the back of the arcade,
and
appeared to be discussing something seriously. A
white
cat was with them.
"I think it is. But who's with her?" Makoto
asked.
"I don;t know. Let's go see." Minako jumped up
and headed for that table. The blonde 'man' saw
her and
said something. They stopped talking as she
reached the
table.
"Hey Usagi! Just saw you and thought I'd say hi.
Ooo! Is that your cat?! How kawaii!" Minako
scooped up the white cat and began petting her.
"Neko-chan no kawaii!" She squealed. The one with
short purple hair turned away and began giggling.
The cat, if possible, shot her a glare and
hissed.
"Athena! Be nice to Hota-chan!" Usagi gasped.
Atehna glared at her, as if to say, 'She was
laughing at meeeeee!'.
"What's up?" Usagi asked, but Ami and Makoto were
staring at Haruka like her skin was green.
Then, like a lightbulb had appeared, at the same
they both exclaimed,
"You're Tenoh Haruka, the racer!!"
"Oh no." Haruka groaned, her face dropping down
into her hands. "Please, don't let them be fans.
God, please..."
"Oh, I've seen all your races, Haruka-san!!"
Minako squealed.
"Come on, Haruka! Lighten up!" Usagi chirped.
"Give my friends an autograph and smile your
winning smile."
Haruka looked up and shot her a death glare.
Even Setsuna had to laugh as the expression on
Haruka's face went from 'I'm going to kill' to
'I'm a genius!'
Haruka looked up at the three girls. She slowly,
so that they were looking, took off her jacket,
revelaing the blouse underneath that was tight
enough to clearly state she was of female gender.
"You know," she said slowly. "I'm a girl."
Minako's face dropped, and Makoto and Ami both
went bright red.
"Er... aren't we supposed to be at your temple,
Rei?" Minako asked, pushing a surprised Rei out
of the Arcade, Ami and Makoto following happily.
"That was genius! Pure genius!" Haruka
congradulated herself.
"Haruka-papa?"
"Yes, Hime-chan?"
"You're insane."
"Stop stating the obvious, Hotaru." Setsuna
scolded.
"Hey-- back to business!" Athena exclaimed.
"She's right, guys." Usagi nodded. "Just because
here's four weaker Sailor Senshi here in Tokyo
doesn't mean they can take on the Shadows that we
had one Hell of a time dealing with before."
"Does this mean we're going to have to join
forces with the Inners?" Michiru had a funny look
on her face.
"No..." Usagi sighed. "But it does mean that
we're going to have to show up for every fight to
make sure they've still not found It."
"What happens if they find It?" Hotaru asked. She
was still having troubles with her memories.
"If they find It," Setsuna said gravely. "Then
the world is doomed."
"Stop being so serious, guys!" Usagi stood up in
her seat, and held one fist in the air. "You've
got me to fight with you now, and I will defeat
anything that comes my way!"
She yelped as Michiru and Hotaru pulled her back
into a sitting position.
"As much as I really hate to admit it, she's
right. Usagi's a better warrior than any of us."
Haruka said. "And she's got that blasted stick--"
"Lunar Staff." Usagi corrected.
"Whatever. And not to mention your cat. And
you're insane. The Soul Snatchers--"
"Dark Sun Warriors."
"Whatever! They haven't got a chance." "Listen,
t''s been almost an hour. Ikuko-san and Kenji-san
must be worried. I've got a history for running
away, you know."
"We'll give you a ride back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next week went by the magic, for now Usagi
had something to think about. And did she ever
think about it. She dreamed about tasting the
estacy of battle again. Athena had lectured her
for actually wanting to fight.
However, Friday was a bit different.
Usagi had just skipped out to the courtyards for
lunch when she was ambushed by Minako.
"Oh, did you hear, Usagi?" She said breathlessly.
"What is it?"
"I heard it on the radio. There was a wreck at
the race track-- Tenoh-san--"
She'd barely gotten the sentense out when there
was a screeching of tires in front of the school.
A familar yellow convertible, being drove by
Setsuna, of all people, Hotaru in the passengar
seat.
"Usagi-san!" Hotaru yelled in the dead silence.
"Hurry! Haruka's been in a wreck!"
"Coming, Hotaru!" She turned to Minako. "explain
this to the teachers." She said quickly.
"Haruka's family." And she for the car, hopping
int he back seat. There was another screeching of
tires and the car was gone.
"Where'd you learn to drive, Setsuna?" Usagi
asked.
"Haruka, where else?" Setsuna answered. "Haruka's
been in an awful wreck, we need you, Princess."
"Is it that bad?" Usagi asked, suddenly serious.
"What happened?"
"She was just passing Huinoku, that bastard, when
he decided he wouldn't loose. Rammed right into
her, he did!" Hotaru said, fire in her eyes.
Usagi had no doubt that if Hotaru caught hold of
Huinoku, he'd be a dead man.
"Oh no...."
"Oh yes." Setsuna said, her voice hard. "Both the
cars exploded. The engine of his car hit the gas
tank of her's. Huinoku, of course, doesn't have a
chance. He's on his way to the hospital, but he
won't make it, I can garantee you." There was a
look in Setsuna's eyes that made her shudder.
"Haruka has Planet Power on her side, and not to
mention she's a lot stronger than any human any
day of the week. She should make it-- if you help
us."
"Why didn't they get blown up?"
Hotaru smiled wryly. "Two words: Sailor Neptune."
"How'd she transform in time?"
"She saw what Huinoku was going to do, jumped out
of the stands, and was henshined by the time he
rammed Haruka. She put it out almost immediatly."
"Quick thinking on her part." Setsuna nodded.
"I can heal the wounds," Hotaru said slowly. "But
we'll need you to do the outside scarring, and
boost her energy back up."
"How will we get all the doctors out of her
room?" Usagi asked, carefully unclasping the
necklace around her neck.
"Oh, I'll take care of that." Setsuna said coyly.
"You take care of Haruka."
"Sure thing." Usagi giggled, only imagining
Setsuna's plan. The woman had pulled some pretty
ingenius stunts before.
"We're here." Setsuna brought the car to a
screeching stop in front of Tokyo General.
"Remember, this is a in-and-out job, alright? No
flirting with cute doctors or checking out the
cafeteria."
"Gotcha." Hotaru and Usagi jumped out of the car
and grinned at each other as Setsuna disappeared
into one of her thousand portals.
They did their best to look inconspicious as they
walked inside and took the elevator to the fifth
floor, as Hotaru said.
The entered Haruka's room, and sure enough, the
only people in it were a sobbing Michiru and an
unconscious Haruka.
"Shh, Michiru-mama. We're here, we'll make
Haruka-papa good as new." Hotaru conforted
Michiru. Usagi held out the necklace in front of
her. It had a clearish crystal hanging from it.
The crystal glowed for a moment, and Usagi looked
up at them, more than before.
"Well, it's not as bad as it looks. Hotaru
shouldn't have a problem at all."
"But she's burned so badly--"
"Hotaru shall heal the internal injuries,
Michiru. I'll take care of everything else."
Usagi smiled gently at the senshi of the oceans,
and Michiru nodded, suddenly feeling a thousand
times better.
Hotaru held up her henshin wand.
"I'll need to transform." She said. "I want to do
as much as I can. Saturn Planet Power Make up!"
Usagi waited patiently as Sailor Saturn knelt by
the bedside and began to heal Haruka.
After a few moments, Saturn slumped back, and
Haruka groaned.
She opened her eyes, and Saturn said "back up",
looking a little out of it, but otherwise fine.
"Where am I? Michi?"
Usagi stepped forward and stopped Michiru.
"I need everyone to get back. If you startle me,
then this thing could go haywire." She pointed to
the crystal. "Haruka, I need you to be quiet for
a few
minutes so I can finish what Hotaru began." She
closed
her eyes and held the crystal up with both hands
while
Saturn moved to the door to make double sure that
no
one came through.
"Moon Crystal Healing!" She called out, filling
whole room with more light than the top of a
lighthouse. It was so bright, that it destroyed
any thought of seeing what the crystal was doing
exactly.
The light died away abruptly, and it took a few
minutes for Saturn's and Michiru's eyes to
adjust.
When they did, Michiru let out a shriek and
Saturn immediatly dehenshined.
Haruka was sitting up, pulling several IVs and
bandages off, muttering about poor quality
clothing.
"RUKA!" Michiru had her arms around Haruka before
Usagi could even blink.
"Job well done, Usagi." Hotaru said, as Usagi put
the crystal back up and sank into the chair that
Michiru had occupied.
The door opened.
"--In critical condition, but she might pull
through, there's high dou..." The doctor who had
been talking to Setsuna stopped in mid-word as he
stared at Haruka, who was standing up without a
single scratch on her.
And fainted.
Setsuna looked down at him, and chuckled.
"Well, he certainly took that well." She said,
under her breath. She looked up and smiled. "Are
we all ready to go?" She asked, opening a large
portal.
"Let's go." The four women said automaticly. They
all stepped inside the portal, Setsuna last.
When the protal closed itself, a single piece of
paper fell to the floor.
Mention to anyone what you just witnessed
and
perpare to take the concequenses. And besides, no
one will believe you anyway.
-You'll Never Guess
Ironic, and totally expectable.
And yet so unpredicable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Usagi got back to school it was the last
class. After listening to her teacher yell at her
for about fifteen minutes, before she held up her
hand and uttered two words that NO ONE in the
entire history of
Juuban High School had ever uttered to a teacher.
"Be Quiet."
The class fell silent. The teacher actually
stopped talking out of pure shock.
"I went with Hotaru and Setsuna because Haruka-
san is one of the only people that helped me when
I was on the streets. She's closer than any
friend or family I've ever had. I had to go see
if I could do anything for her, I just had to.
And you can go ahead and expell me, I know enough
to take the college entrance exams anyway." And
she sat down.
The teacher stared at her for a long time, before
turning to the chalkboard.
"Open your books to page 629..."
There was yet another stunned silence before
everyone but Usagi picked up their textbooks and
turned to the ordered page.
Usagi turned to look out of the window, and
suddenly, her whole body exploded in pain, like
every cell was being split.
It only lasted for a second, but it left her
gasping for air.
She knew what that meant.
She stood up, just as the first screams rang out.
The teacher, prepared for this, jumped up and was
about to shut and lock the door.
A hand stopped her.
The teacher whirled around to face Uasgi once
more. There was a chilling light in those blue
orbs, a knowledge that the teacher never dreamed
of knowing.
A pain that could never be healed.
"Get out of the way."
The teacher hesitated. She was indimadated by
this new student, though Usagi didn't look like
she could kill a fly. But there was something
about that look of pain in her student's eyes.
She stepped aside, almost unwillingly. Before
leaving, Usagi bowed to her.
"You are of my kind." Usagi whispered, before
running down the hall.
The teacher stared after her. What had the girl
meant?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi ducked into a restroom and made sure no one
was in any of the stalls before raising one had
up in the air, her crystal amulet grasped in it.
She smiled insanely as she felt the power lashing
at her soul, demanding it be released.
"Moon Lunar Power, Make up!" She cried.
If anyone had been out in the hallway would
startled to see the sailor suited warrior run out
of the girls restroom, a mix of blonde, silver,
and blue.
She tapped the bracelet around her wrist once
with her finger, and it turned into a
communicator.
"Minna, I'm at the school and there's trouble.
I'm going to stay hidden to see if the inner
senshi can
handle it, but I'd like some back-up in case they
try
to nab me."
"Sure thing, Sailor Moon." said Hotaru's voice.
"Puu and I will be there ASAP."
"Thanks, Taru. See you." She tapped the
communicator, and it turned back into a bracelet.
She looked around silently.
Another scream-- from the gym?
Somehow that seemed a bit ironic as she literally
jumped down the stairs and ran, crashing into
more than one student, through the school in the
direction of the gym.
She passed one of the inner senshi-- Sailor
Jupiter, who stared as the silver senshi outraced
her into the open gym doors.
But when Jupiter got inside, the senshi was no
where to be seen. Jupiter was about to think
she'd imagined her when the youma left for her
throat.
"Supreme Thunder!"
The youma was stopped by her assault, but not
damaged.
It was about to go for her again when a new voice
interrupted them.
"HEY! You're not throwing a party without lil'
ol' me, are you?" It was the new senshi again, in
a sailor
fuku of silver bows and a blue skirt. Her eyes
seemed
to focus on something the youma had clenched in
it's
hand.
She grinned.
Jupiter stared in utter astonishment. This youma
was big, bad, and ugly, and this girl was
grinning?
The yuoma seemed to be shaking.
"Now now now..." The new senshi wagged her finger
at the youma and chucked her tongue. "That's not
fair. You know I can't let you take that."
"You arrre dead!" the youma screeched.
"Really? Opps... yeah, I guess I was kind of
really close to dead last time I saw one of you.
But you see, Sailor Moon's a little harder to
kill than that!" She pulled out a long grayish
staff from thin air. "The Moon, you see, is my
guardian and protector, for I fight for justice
in it's place. I am Sailor Moon!"
The youma seemed very shaken.
"The planet lost in time and space is my gaurdian
deity. The senshi of time, Sailor Pluto!"
"The planet of silence and destruction is my
gaurdian! The soldier of silence, Sailor Saturn!"
Two others appeared suddenly. They didn't look
very happy.
"Has it already taken the soul, Sailor Moon?"
Saturn asked.
"Yeah." Sailor Moon gave them her crazy grin.
"I'm going in!"
"WAIT, PRINCESS!" Saturn yelled, but Sailor Moon
was already in the air, going for the youma at an
alarming speed.
"Selene Crescent Erruption!" She shouted, hitting
the youma and snatching the object from the
youma's hand all at once.
The youma howled in rage at it's treasure being
taken. But Saturn and Pluto held it at bay as
Sailor Moon carefully examined the thing in her
hands.
It was gorgeous. A simple, misty, shifting
sphere, with a single point of light in it. This
one had a slight discoloring to it, no, it wasn't
It.
Sailor moon sighed. After so much, they were
still no closer to finding It than they were
proving Santa Claus existed.
She walked over to a limp, unconscious girl she
vaguely recognized and let the soul drift back
into it's owner.
Then she stood up. The insane look was gone as
she picked her staff up form the ground.
Something flickered in her eyes, and Pluto
whispered to Saturn to
back off.
"Fire Soul!
"Crescent Beam!"
"Shabon Spray!"
The shouts were instant and at the same time.
Sailor Moon began swearing.
"WHO THE HELL JUST DID THAT FOG THING? WHEN I GET
MY HANDS ON YOU--" The youma was screaming things
not unlike that.
Mercury hid behind Jupiter and made the fog go
away.
"That's better." Now two more senshi had joined
Sailor Moon, Saturn, and Pluto.
"Princess, we got here as soon as we could!"
Uranus exclaimed, breathless.
"Was it It?" Neptune asked.
"Nope." Sailor Moon rolled her eyes. "All the fun
just left this fight." She lazily pointed her
staff at the yuoma. "Selene Crescent Erruption."
The youma imploded.
"Time to go!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
The four inner senshi plus two cats were gathered
in the temple of Hiwaka Shrine.
"But there is no Sailor Moon!" Luna protested.
"There is now." Makoto said grimly. "And those
four senshi who fought with her look like someone
to be reckoned with. And she-- she was crazy!"
"Really! I was watching." Minako exclaimed. "She
entered the gym running really fast, and just
*jumped*
into the rafters of the gym. THAT GYM IS THREE
STORIES
TALL. After Jupiter got in, she jumped down and
got mad
because the youma tried to attack Jupiter first
INSTEAD
OF HER! She was toying with the damn thing. I'm
betting
she could have destroyed it in about two
seconds!"
"The youma was after a pure soul." Rei cut in.
"It had already taken it when I got there. Sailor
Moon took it and said it wasn't It and put it
back before those two... Uranus and Neptune...
arrived. They seemed
kind of worried about Sailor Moon-- Uranus called
her
princess."
Artemis and Luna shared a glance.
"She could very well be the princess." Artemis
said slowly. "After all, she might have the
ginzuishou and used it to transform herself to
fight. But--" Artemis looked confused.
"Her phyiscal despcription matches perfectly."
Luna added. "But the Moon Princess hated
fighting. She never fought. She never even spoke
a cross word. She wouldn't learn even the most
simple self defense techniques."
"And from what it seems, this girl was a great
fighter and loved the battle."
"She was oozing positive energy." Ami spoke up
fromi her computer. "Her power level is through
the roof. She was drawing the energy from
something else-- I couldn't get a lock on that,
though."
"Does she remind you of anyone?"
"Besides a psycho?" Minako asked.
"Hey, guys--" Makoto grinned. "Did you hear about
Usagi? She took off at lunchtime o come back
right after last period started. The sensei
started to lecture her, but she told the sensei
off. And then she
got up and left!"
"Left when?" Luna asked quickly.
"It was right before the attack." Makoto said.
"That's what Naru told me. Naru's in that class
with Usagi. Why?"
"Nothing, Makoto." Luna gave Artemis a 'look' and
they headed outside.
Right smak into Usagi.
Usagi was holding onto the arm of Haruka, looking
at the cats like they were poison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi froze. Haruka could feel her fear of the
small black cat.
"It's *her*, Haruka!" She gasped in a whisper.
"Wait, Luna! We want to ask you ab-- HI, Usagi!"
Minako quickly covered up her surprise.
"Oh, hi, Minako. We were looking for the miko of
this shrine." Haruka said, smirking slightly as
Minako . "Do you know where we can find her?"
"I'm the miko of Hiwaka Shrine. What can I do for
you?" Rei stepped out from behind Minako.
Haruka shot a look at the three girls.
"My friend here has been having strange--
visions." Haruka nodded toward Usagi, who was
still staring at Luna with a strange expression
on her face. "We were told to come see you. That
you have such talent to us what they mean."
Rei nodded, and turned to her friends.
"I'm going to take them to the Great Fire. You
guys go back to my room."
Usagi relaxed as the black cat followed Rei's
orders.
Rei led hem into a small room were a fire blazed.
She took a seat before the fire. Haruka and Usagi
sat down behind her.
"What are your visions about?" Rei asked.
"The end of the world. Everything's so quiet..
and we're all frozen in stone--"
Rei gasped.
"And a tornado comes and destroys everything."
She said, in a small choked voice. "Everyone
dies, and
you're helpless to do anything."
"You've had them too." Haruka said. Rei turned
around to see that Haruka had a funny expression.
"Michiru, Hotaru and I, along with Usagi, have
them once a day. Or more," she added ruefully.
"We think they are of the future, to come. We
want to know if they're true."
Rei looked away, her violet eyes giving to
evidense to the emotions within.
"Visions may be of the past or future. Sometimes
it's impossible to tell which until it is too
late--"
"NO!" Usagi yelled, jumping to her feet, her
silver hair twisting around her in her sudden
movement. "I will not let the world be destroyed!
I'll die first!"
Rei looked at her curiously. This girl did look
like Sailor Moon a little bit, but her presence
was calmer than the one that Mars had felt when
she approached Sailor Moon.
"Usagi, please. You know we won't permit it to
happen. Calm down, Sere!" Haruka hissed softly.
Usagi didn't loose the furious look.
"Alright, Haruka. We've got an appointment,
remember? With *Setsuna*? You know, the one where
I kick her sorry ass?"
"She's not going to tell us anything, Odango. You
know that." Haruka said softly, trying to reason
with the younger girl. "Hold yourself together.
We wont let it happen."
Rei looked at Haruka. Now, this girl, however,
would be a great senshi. She had the potential--
but was she one of the senshi they'd seen
eariler?
"Thank you, Rei-san. I'd better get Odango home
before she throws a fit and goes spastic." Haruka
put her arm around her princess's shoulder. "Last
time that happened--- well..."
Usagi flushed.
"It wasn't mty fault! But look at it my way, they
*do* think I'm dea--" Her word was cut off as
Haruka clamped one hand over Usagi's mouth and
led her out of the temple.
Rei looked down to see Artemis.
"Did you catch all that?"
"Yes."
"And...?"
"She's either the villian or the senshi. And I'm
guessing the villian. That girl is a murderer..."
~**~
Usagi frowned as she was embraced by Ikuko the
very second she stepped into the house, and
regreted telling Haruka to buzz off, which the
older woman had done.
"What?" She asked, as Ikuko stood back. "Is it my
birthday?"
"Where have you been, I was so worried... what if
you'd gotten attacked by a youma? Oh, Usagi, it's
after ten..."
"Oh." Usagi blinked. No one but Hotaru had ever
worried about her *this* much.
"I was with Haruka, Ikuko-san. She and I had
things to discuss. I'm sorry if I worried you,
you shouldn't."
"Shouldn't what?"
"Worry about me."
"But you're like my own daughter! Why wouldn't
I?"
Usagi gulped as a memory hit her.
"You're my daughter! I worry about you!"
"I can't let him die."
"Serenity, if you go to earth again..."
"You'll what?"
"I'll die without you. You can't die on
me..."
"Because of my job, Ikuko."
"You have a job?"
"Ikuko-san, why on earth do you think I'm an
orphan? Because my mother was murdered by youma.
And I do the same job she did, Ikuko. Don't worry
about me-- that's Haruka's job."
"Haruka's? Is she your mother?"
"Are you kidding? Mention marrage, childbirth,
etc to Haruka. She's pass out. Please don't ask
what I do, Ikuko. I can't tell you." Usagi
smilied sadly. "And
I'll probably be out at odd hours, coming in
beaten up,
and in mortal peril a few times a week. But other
than
that, I usually come home alive. So, Hakuna
Matata!"
Ikuko stared at Usagi's back as the girl bounced
up the stairs with a reckless giddiness.
There was something in those silvery eyes of
Usagi's that unnerved her. The look of someone
who could see anything and laugh. Perhaps it was
indifference, perhaps it was ditziness.
But it seemed more like the look of a warrior.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi was not a happy camper.
Usagi was not a happy anything.
Usagi was downright cranky.
Two o'clock. IN THE MORNING, mind you. A youma
had decided it was a nice time to go out stealing
souls. Usagi, or rather, Sailor Moon, had been
woken at two o'clock in the morning by Haruka,
and had climbed back into bed at 4:42 a.m.
precisely.
Lost sleep, no matter how little, did not make
Usagi a nice person to deal with.
"Hi, Usagi! How's it hanging?" Minako said
brightly.
"By a noose." Usagi replied, throwing her bookbag
to the floor of the classroom and all but falling
into her chair. "Death to yuoma..." She muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing." Usagi groaned. "What's up, Minako?"
"Oh, nothing really. Artemis woke me up in the
middle of the night, silly neko, and I couldn't
go back to sleep froever, but other than that,
I'm good. You?"
Usagi nodded, a slight smirk playing o her
features. Yes, she'd seen the inner senshi,
running openly in the street after the less-than-
stupid youma.
"Trouble sleeping too. Sheesh... you think if I
went to sleep Haruna-sensei would freak?"
"Hard to say. You *are* way ahead, almost as far
as Ami-chan. That reminds me... why were you at
the temple yesterday?"
Usagi arched one eyebrow at the golden child.
"I wanted to ask the miko there... Rei-san... if
she could interpret the meaning of my dreams. She
couldn't tell me anything I didn't already know."
"Oh." Minako blinked. "What kind of nightmares?
About cats, maybe? You really freaked out at
Luna."
It was Luna!
"Er... I just don't like cats very well."
Especially not cats that can blow everything to
the world if they touch me. "I'm gonna take a
nap, 'kay? If she asks for homework, could you
fish mine out of my bag? Thanks."
Thirty minutes later, Haruna had sent many glares
at the sleeping girl, but could do nothing to
object-- Usagi had already shown she knew all the
math, science, history, and grammar the school
could teach, and was far more advanced in
languages that Haruna could dream of.
"Pass your homework to the front." She said
finally. Minako turned around to see if Usagi was
still asleep, and finding her friend was, began
to dig around in Usagi's backpack.
She came up with a notebook, and opened it.
She found the paper immediatly, for it was right
on top. She was about to close the notebook when
something caught her eye. She turned the page...
And thought she would faint.
The page was split diaognoally with a single
line. One one side, in ordanary gray lead, was
her own face, Minako's own face, done in perfect
detail, down to the bow in her hair, winking at
the veiwer.
On the other half, in blue colored pencil, giving
the viewer a sharp, calculating look, was Sailor
Venus. Complete in tiara, boots, and bows, a
chain of hearts encircling her.
On the top of the paper, in perfect lettering,
was written 'Aphrodite'.
Minako took several deep breaths, and thought
fast. Usagi knew she was Sailor Venus, obviously.
But what to do? She couldn't very well challenge
her, Usagi was a friend. And an unknown, at that.
She didn't have to make the decision, it was made
for her. The notebook was snatched out of her
hands, and she looked up to see a pair of silver-
colored eyes that seared into her soul.
Usagi frowned.
"You weren't supposed to see that." She said
softly.
"How did you know?" Minako asked, just as softly.
Usagi looked away.
"Lucky guess." She muttered, stuffing the
notebook back into her bag and looking away. "A
very lucky guess."
Class dragged by then for both of them. At
lunch, they both waited until Haruna and the
other students cleared out.
Minako immediatly turned around.
"How did you know?" her voice was now sharper,
harder. Usagi stared back her her, an expression
between a smirk and a frown coming onto her
features.
"For me to know... and perhaps you never to fnid
out, Minako Aino. May we leave it at that?
Despite your statis, I would like to be friends."
Minako took a deep breath before answering.
"And the others?"
"I know who all of you are." Usagi answered. "Not
that I care nor does it matter." She looked out
the window at the students milling into the
courtyard. Innocents." It was said with a sneer.
"Minako, do you realize that you and I, with your
senshi friends, are the only ones who understand
that the world isn't a nice place? Well, perhaps
there is a scattering of humans that do, but most
of them are from the old kingdom. I was so
suprised when I recognized you."
"How much do you know?"
"More than you want to." Usagi walked over to the
window, shoved it open, and reached out onto the
ledge, and retrieved a white cat with a black
left paw.
"Minako, you've met Athena, right?"
"Merow." Athena said, as Minako petted her.
"Yes. Your cat sits outside the window? Does she
do that always?" Minako asked curiously.
"She will from now on. She has for the last
couple of days, since that youma attack. Haven't
you, neko-chan?"
"Merow." Athena rolled her eyes.
"She's cute. Artemis would like her."
"Oh, Athena has met Artemis, haven't you, Athena?
I heard that Artemis came out worse in that
fight. Hehe, maybe next time he'll think twice,
ne, Thena?"
Athena glared at Usagi.
"Oh, so you're the mangy tabby cat that couldn't
think a cohertent thought to catch a rat and it
wasn't his fault that you were faaster than him?"
Minako asked innocently. Minako could have sworn
the cat grinned.
"Probably. Of course, Athena's not what you'd
call a slow kitty. Shall we go to lunch or argue
some more? And there's no use to tell the other
senshi I ... they shall know me soon enough."
"Huh? Why?"
"Like I said, you'll know me soon enough..."
"Merrrow."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sailor Moon cursed, and it was enough to make
Mercury flush as she wondered where a girl her
age could have heard something like that.
"Uranus, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR BACKUP!"
Sailor Moon yelled into her communicator. "Ugly
is a gross understatment in this case!"
"We're on our way, stop screeching, Odango!"
Uranus yelled back. "Do what you do best!"
Sailor Moon clsoed the communicator with another
curse.
"Athena! Attack!" She called. Venus and Jupiter
screamed in shock as a huge panther jumped out
and
knocked the youma senseless, before quickly
retreating
back to the sidelines.
"Good kitty." Sailor Moon grinned. "Keep her
busy, Athena, while I check this out."
The four senshi and Athen awent back to attacking
the youma while Sailor Moon knelt beside the
victim and gazed into the shifting orb.
"Damn! It's not it!" She shook her head and
returned the soul to the owner. "Why can't they
get a good target once in a while?" She stood up.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
"It's about time!" Sailor Moon yelled, as the
youma was nearly drowned. "It wasn't It, guys.
Another dud." She aimed at the youma. "Selene
Crescent Erruption!"
The youma discentigrated. Athena gave the pile of
dust one last glare before retreating out of
sight.
"What took you so long?" Sailor Moon asked, her
shoulder that had a trickle of blood running from
it. "That was one of the fastest ones I've met
yet. It could outrun me... and maybe you,
Uranus."
Uranus nodded.
"I'll believe you. We just got intelligence
reports that the enemy's upping their efforts
because you're here. We'll get Saturn to take a
look at your arm--"
"Not in the century we won't. My arm's fine. on,
let's go." Sailor Moon protested.
Neptune rolled her eyes.
"You have to be in top shape fighting."!
"My arm's not going to slow me down."
"That's what you said last time. When you almost
fell off that cliff."
"Number one, it was a damned waterfall and number
two, if you had a Commander throw you over the
side of the waterfall, I would say you'd have a
hard time from falling." Sailor Moon shot back.
"Now, let's go! I don't want to see if they also
happen to have any
of those slimballs left--"
"Too late." Neptune whispered. Uranus swore
loudly, and the four senshi, who had started to
walk away, turned around and froze.
A man, taller than Uranus, standing about six and
a half feet, stood where the dust that had been
the youma lay. He wore a black uniform that was
too similar to that of the Dark kingdom generals
for any one's good.
"Well, looks like we've got a big load of
trouble." Sailor Moon said, picking up her
commincator once more. "Saturn, Pluto, I think
we'll be needing your help after all...
apparently they can also cook up a Commander."
She closed the commincator and turned to
grin at the man.
"Hey, how'ya doin'?" She asked. "Nice to see one
of yuou again, really, it's just a dream come
true."
He glared at her.
"I am Commander Kinaku."
"Really? Oh, that's really nice." Sailor Moon
smiled. "Well, I suppose you're after me...
again..."
"Supreme Thunder!"
"Fire Soul!"
"Crescent Beam!" The inner sensi had seen enough,
and threrw their power at the commander. It only
singed his uniform and made him back up a few
steps.
And pissed him off.
"You will not escape this time, Princess!" He
growled, and charged at Sailor Moon.
Not only was she not there when he reached her,
but we was knocked to the ground by over one
hundred pounds of angry panther.
"Space Sword Blaster!"
"Silent Glaive Surprise!"
"Dead Scream!"
"Submarine Reflection!" The new barrage sent him
flying back into the wall.
"Princess, we;ve got to get you out of here."
Saturn said, as the commander began to stand back
up.
"Don't call me princess and I ain't budging."
Sailor Moon retorted. She looked over at the
inner senshi grimly, and at the two cats who had
jioned them. "Commander, tell your master I
refuse to give him what
he wants. And if you leave now..." She pointed
her
staff at him. "I won't kill you."
The commander cursed as he vanished, bleeding
heavily.
"Anything else someone wants to blow before we
leave?" Sailor Moon asked. "How about I just
waltz over and-- GET THAT CAT AWAY FROM ME!" She
jumped into Uranus's arms as Luna walked over to
her.
Uranus looked at the senshi she held in her arms
and laughed.
"You're such a coward."
"Bite me, okay?" Sailor Moon retorted and glared
at the black cat. "Shoo. Go away, stupid cat.
Atheeenaaaaa... help me...." She whined at the
panther, who was making a noise that sounded
supiciously like giggles.
Luna kept advancing. She stopped in front of
Uranus.
"Who are you?" Luna asked, a note of menace in
her voice. "Why do you call her princess, and
what are
those things you fight?"
"Luna!" Venus gasped. Artemis shook his head.
"We need to know, Venus." He said softly.
"I am Super Outer Senshi Sailor Uranus. I hold
the powers of the heavens."
"I am Super Outer Senshi Sailor Neptune. I hold
the powers of water."
"I am the Super Sailor Saturn, dark messiah of
destruction."
"I am Sailor Pluto, gaurdian of time."
"I'm Sailor Moon, and that's all you need to
know, Luna." Sailor Moon glared down at the cat.
"They are my senshi, and I their leader. And
that's all... ACK!" Luna jumped up at her, and
faster than a shot, Sailor Moon ducked and leapt
out of Uranus's arms, backing away from Luna.
"Stop that!" She cried.
The cat advanced.
"Neptune, Queen's advisor or no Queen's advisor,
i'll kill her before she touches me." Sailor moon
said, still bakcing up. "The Dark Sun Warriors
already know
too much, I don't need her sprouting off about
it...
AHHH!" Sailor Moon cried out as Artemis landed
deftly
on her shoulder. "Artemis!"
"My lord..." Artemis gasped, jumping off just as
quickly and landing beside Luna.
"What is it?" Luna asked.
"I..." Artemis looked up at Sailor Moon, who was
very pale. "Luna... I will swear by Queen
Serenity herself... that girl..."
"Don't say it..." Sailor Moon moaned. "Don't say
it..."
"Let's go, Sailor Moon." Uranus said, but Pluto
stopped her.
"They would have found out anyway." She said
softly. "Let him speak."
"But Usagi..."
"Haruka, please."
"Hn." Uranus sulked.
"Just say it, Artemis!" Mercury urged.
"She's the Moon Princess."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At first, there was no sound. They were all too
stunned to hear it said aloud to do anything. And
then...
"You're joking, surely, Artemis." Luna said
incredously, staring up at the frozen senshi.
"Aside from looks, she's nothing like Serenity."
"That's correct." Saturn said. "She's nothing
like Serenity, but she is. She is Serenity, our
princess."
Sailor Moon gave the senshi of destruction a
dirty look.
"I am not a princess." She said, inbetween
clenched teeth. "I'll be going now. I will be
missed." She was gone in a flash, Athena glaring
at Artemis before following her mistress.
"Damn, now she'll be sulking for the next month."
Uranus did not look happy. "We might want to warn
the punk population to look out."
"Let's just hope she doesn't get carried away
this time. Last time she did, she was thrown in
jail." Neptune shook her head. "When will she
accept it?"
"Not for a while, I believe." Pluto answered.
"Come on. I'll be missed, also. I was in the
middle of a meeting."
"Hai." Saturn yawned and looked at the setting
sun.
"Wait a second!" Mars yelled. "Can't you tell us
what we're fighting, at least?"
Uranus roled her eyes as Neptune nodded.
"They call themselves the Dark Sun Warriors, but
we prefer to call them Shadows. You fought Beryl,
right?" At their nods, Neptune continued. "Well,
the commanders are what you call the generals of
the Dark Sun army. The youma are programmed to
find a pure soul. Our mission is to stop them."
"You've fought them before, right?" Jupiter
asked.
"Hai, we have. We destroyed their stronghold, I
guess they took root in another place. But they
never found the Pure Soul, and neither did we."
"What happens when they find the pure soul?"
"If they find it? The world ends. If we find it?
The world's saved. The pure soul has the power of
the universe when combined with the ginzuishou...
which our
princess does have."
"That's where the nijizuishous went." Venus
whispered. "I wonder if they know Endymion's
dead..." She decided that they did not and she
wasn't about to break the news, not with them as
pissed off as they were.
The outer senshi began to walk away, when
Mercury, of all senshi, spoke again.
"We're all senshi!" She said. "Why won't you tell
us who you are? Or at least who Sailor Moon is?"
"Yeah!" Jupiter agreed.
"Because," Uranus said, an oddly amused
expression on her face. "We do not wish you to
know. It's as simple as that. And Sailor Moon
makes up her own mind, we simply save her can
once in a while."
"And she saves our's." Pluto reminded the sora no
senshi. "Now I really must leave." She and Saturn
took off down the street, oppisite the way Athena
had run.
Uranus looked to Neptune, who nodded. Together,
the jumped off onto the roof of a nearby building
and raced away.
Jupiter uttered a curse and dehenshined.
"I can't believe it." Luna shook her head.
"Princess Serenity, a warrior. It doesn't make
sense."
"Luna, we have no idea what kind of childhood she
has had in rebirth. It could have changed her."
Artemis said. "We have to be accepting. She is
strong."
"If only we could be sure of her, though." Luna
sighed. "Come on, girls. Let's go home. Senshi
meeting tomorrow, after school. And Ami? Watch
that Usagi girl. Alert us if she does anything
strange, and if you can without anyone seeing,
try to get a reading of her with your computer."
"I'll do my best, Luna."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usagi was out for blood. It was easy to tell. One
could just look at her chilling silvery eyes and
see the murder in them.
She glared at anyone who came too close to her...
too close as in her terms. Meaning anyone who
stood within a ten-foot radius got a death glare
that sent them running.
She even tried to glare Makoto away, without much
success.
"Com'on, girl. What's wrong?" Makoto asked, as
Ami stood a distance away, trying to to be too
nervous
of the glares Usagi was throwing her way.
"Go away." Usagi muttered, glaring at a red-
haired girl who passed by.
"I'm not that easy to scare, Usagi. Tell. Or I'll
pound it out of you." She said, jokingly.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea!" Usagi brightened up
almost instantly. "How much time do I have before
the bell?"
"The bell? About fifteen minutes." Ami answered,
stepping closer to take refuge behind Makoto.
"What for, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi just gave her a funny half-smile.
"Where's Minako?" She asked.
"Probably late; why?"
"Oh, darn. She's got moves on her. Oh, well. Ah,
look. There's my old buddy Ryco! And he's coming
this way! With ten buff looking guys, no doubt!"
Usagi rubbed her hands together in a way that
disturbed Ami and made Makoto nervous. "Ryco! Ol'
buddy! How ya doin'? I heard your bitch-- oh, I'm
sorry, your mother, was sick. That true? I hope
she gets worse-- er, better." Usagi grinned.
Ryco advanced.
"You're going to pay for that scene a few weeks
ago, Tsukino." He said, his voice made to chill
the bone marrow.
Usagi's eyes flashed.
"Let's get one thing straight, shall we?" She
said, the pleasantnes gone now, replaced by a
smooth, emotionless voice that The two girls
swore they'd heard before. "My name is not
Tsukino. I am Usagi, and simply Usagi. If you've
got a problem with that, take it up with me."
"Gladly. But you'll have to go through them..."
Ryco motioned lazily to the ten brutes, who took
a step
forward. "First."
"Ah, I was looking for some exercise." Usagi
cracked her knuckles. "Alright." She looked over
to Makoto and Ami. "You two might want to step
back."
CRACK!
Ami gasped.
One of the bigger boys had took a few running
steps and his fist connected with Usagi's jaw
with force that would have broken anyone's bones.
Usagi turned to stare at the one who had thrown
the punch.
"That," She said, wiping the blood from her
bleeding lip with the back of her hand. "Was a
very stupid thing to do. You're about to get a
crash course in terrorism, boys." She moved
forward quickly.
This was just like fighting very slow, stupid
youma.
The one who had unched her was down and out
within a minute. The second went down with a
staff that Makoto sworn had not been on the
ground where Usagi had grabbed it. Then third and
fourth also fell victim to the staff, Usagi
fighting with a rage she'd been bottling up ever
since the first Shadows had came.
"Die!" The fifth never saw the hand that hit the
base of his neck. He went down and didn't move;
Ami was afraid Usagi had really killed him.
Number six went down with a gash across his face.
Seven, Eight, and Nine took a hint and ganged up
on her, and Usagi disappeared beneath a flurry of
fists and kicks.
The trio were thrown off, Usagi's shirt now
ripped and she was bleeding and bruised in more
than one place, her silver hair undone and flying
in the breeze as she grinned insanely at ten and
Ryco.
"This has been most invigorating." She said,
pointing the end of the staff at ten. "But I'm
not in the mood to play anymore."
She leapt forward, and caught ten in the stomach
with the end of the staff. He went down clutching
his stomach, screaming.
AMi saw her chance. Ryco and Usagi were staring
at each other murderously, neither paying
attention to her. She took out her computer, and-
-
"Usagi! No!" Hotaru came running across the
courtyard, shoving her way through the ring of
students that had collected with the first sounds
of a fight. "Damnit, don't do this!"
"Get away, Hotaru."
"Usagi--"
"THAT WAS AN ORDER." Usagi said tersly. "Back
off." Hotaru looked stunned, but stepped back.
"If you kill him, Usagi, you'll have to run
again." Hotaru said pleadingly. "You can't kill
anymore. Damn you, you promised! After that last
one, you promised you wouldn't kill anyone else!"
The crowd was silenced with the meaning of her
words.
"Who in the name of Hecate said I'd kill him,
Hotaru?" Usagi said, as Ryco took a step
backwards. "I just want to hear him scream a
little."
"Usagi-chan, don't!" A familiar blonde appeared
beside Hotaru. "Please, Usagi-chan. Ryco is just
an asshole. You're hurt already, and you'll be
hurt even more."
Usagi hesitated at the sound of Minako's voice,
and smiled sadly at the memory of that voice,
only the one she remembered was a bit more mature
and a bit older, and full of mirth...
"Okay, Minako-chan." Usagi said, handing the
staff to Saturn. "You may go, Ryco. Unless you
want to end up like them?"
Ryco swallowed his dignity and did the only thing
he could-- run.
"Thanks, Usagi." Hotaru said.
"Usagi, I'm so relieved! I thought you'd be
hurt!" Minako hugged her silver-haired friend.
"I'm sorry I worried you, Minako. But these last
few days have been a bit much." Usagi whispered,
hugging Minako back.
"Usagi, I'm following you around today, okay?"
Hotaru said, after most of the students had
vanished and a duo of male teaqchers were heading
for Ryco, who was promptly being yelled at by
Makoto, and Usagi, who nodded swiftly to Hotaru.
"I sense bad energy." Usagi said, as she pushed
Ami, Minako, and Makoto towards the doors. "Go
on," She said to them. "You don't need to get in
trouble also."
They nodded and ran.
Hotaru observed the ten unconscious or close-to-
it boys.
"Be on gaurd." She said, and ran too, to
transform and take up a post.
"What happened?" One of the teachers demanded,
while the other knelt to take pulses of the
injured students.
Usagi smirked at him.
"Oh, I thought that would be obvious, Sensei.
Ryco and his goons decides they'd like to fight
me. I merely demonstrated that they did not." She
smiled sweetly at Ryco. "Isn't that right?"
Ryco scowled, but nodded.
"Office! NOW!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Three of them in critical condition. One of them
in the ICU. Five others have broken bones in more
than one place."
"The other?" Usagi asked, unable to keep the
expression of delight from her face.
The headmaster glared at her.
"Bruises."
"Darn." Usagi shrugged. "Well? It was self-
defense. I'm sorry they picked a murderer to pick
on. What else do you want?"
"Usagi, when you enrolled in this school you
rpomised you would not start any fights, nor harm
any of the student body in any way."
"I didn't start that fight." Usagi said quietly.
"And those goons tried to gang up on me. Granted,
they didn't tear me up as well as they could
have... but still."
"Usagi, the only reason you are not being
expelled or even suspended is because it was an
act of self-defense. And because Ryco does have a
reputation for starting fights. But he does not
have a reputation for murder."
"Two people, Sensei. Two. And they deserved it.
One carved up my friend with a blade and the
other tried to do the same to me. Excuse me for
serving justice."
The headmaster sighed, and stood up from his
desk. He had seen many cases resembling Usagi's,
but none of them were as calm about it as her.
None of them were as sure they wouldn't be thrown
in jail.
"Usagi, you're a good student. You're the best.
You challenge Mizuno Ami, and that's amazing in
itself. And as shameful the fact is to the male
portion of this school, you're also one of the
strongest students I've seen. You're a very
gifted girl. Fighting like this will do nothing
but hinder you in the future."
"I have no future, Headmaster."
"That's only true if you believe it to be. You
were adopted by a wonderful, honorable family."
"I had a family."
The headmaster looked at a file on his desk.
"You were living independantly with help from
Ten'oh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru." He said. "That
was your family?"
"Do you think I was born an orphan?" Her silver
eyes burned holes into him. "I had a family, sir.
A mother, a father. I watched them be murdered in
the worst way a person could be: helpless. I had
a family, sir." She smiled sadly. "Ten'oh Haruka,
Kaioh Michiru, Tomoe Hotaru, and Meioh Setsuna
are closer than sisters to me. They were there."
She frowned slightly. "They take care of me."
"Usagi-chan, why don't you accept the Tsukino
family?"
"I do, sir."
"Then why do you still fight? You could be a
great person."
"That is destiny, sir." She answered, in an
emotionless tone. "Everyone knows that. I'll
never be what i want to be."
The headmaster sat back down.
"I expect to see your behavior improve." he said
after a long silence. "If Ryco tries to jump you
again, try to stay out of it. Please. Do not
tarnish your eputation further."
"Hai, Headmaster." Usagi grinned. "But I can't
promsie anything."
He chuckled.
"I didn't expect you to. Now, get to class,
Usagi." She ndded and stood up. She was to the
door when he spoke again.
"Usagi, I do not know how you will take this, but
you have the spirit of a warrior."
She turned half-way, and looked at him, nodding
slightly.
"I have been told that." She said. "Arigato."
He nodded to her as she left.
"I wonder..." He said to himself. Maybe she
really was a soldier...
~~~~~~~`
The class looked up, staring, as a bruised and
cut Usagi entered the room, smirking slightly as
she handed the excuse the secretary had geven her
to the sensei and took her seat beside a red head
named Naru.
By now, everyone had heard at least some version
of the story. The most radical was that Usagi had
pulled out a pistol and shot the fifty bodygaurds
Ryco had, and then Ryco and Usagi had engaged in
a shoot-out.
"Er... yes. As I was saying, the pathagorian
theroy is simple. You square root the..." Usagi
promptly zoned out.
She came back to reality when the lunch bell rang
and she was jumped by at least fifteen students,
demanding details.
"Go ask Ryco." She said shortly, pickign up her
lunch bag and walking out of the room. At the
moment, as mentally occupied as she was, she was
liable to snap
at them, something she hated doing.
She had just stepped outside when another crowd
confronted her. She opened her mouth to yell
things
that she would have never have dared to say
before her
mother when a loud, angry voice cut through the
noise.
"Serenity Usagi Luna!" Haruka shoved her way
through, her grenish eyes blazing in rage as she
grabbed Usagi be the girl's shoulders and pushed
her up against the building. "I'm going to kill
you!"
"And Michiru said you liked foreplay."
"This isn't funny! Hospital! H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L! You
put those punks in the hospital! Police! You
can't go to jail right now!"
"Haruka!" Michiru pushed her way after Haruka and
made the taller woman release the princess. "Calm
down, it's not that bad." She said soothingly.
Haruka turned and began to yell at the students,
who ran from her.
"Usagi, I understand why you did this, but now
we've got a situation on our hands. You're being
researched."
At this, Usagi closed her eyes and nodded.
"I had hoped so."
"WHAT?!" Haruka yelled, so loudly a teacher ran
over to see what the two strangers were doing.
"S'okay, they're family." Usagi shooed the
doubtful woman away and then turned to Haruka.
"If they're researching Tsukino Usagi, they won't
bother with Serenity Luna." She said simply. "And
Serenity Luna is about to make her debut."
"What do you mean, Usagi?" Michiru asked,
confused. "You can't switch identities *now*! Not
in the middle of an attack!"
"She doesn't mean that." Hotaru said, coming up
behind them. "She means that... well..." Hotaru
shrugged. "Death be on the breeze and suffering
on the tides. All that shall be shall not be and
all that is, is not."
"Stuff it with the riddles, Hotaru." Haruka
growled.
"It's the easiest way to say it." Usagi replied.
"Chaos is coming."
The senshi duo didn't reply for a moment,
reveling in stunned silence.
Finally:
"I really hope that doesn't mean what I think it
means."
~**~
Makoto approached after the three women left.
Usagi was sitting against a tree, staring at her
food, not touching it.
"Usagi-chan?" She asked, stepping closer. Luna's
warning had been ringing in her ears ever since
the
girl's fight with Ryco: She may be the enemy.
"Hey, Mako-chan. Sup?" Usagi said, never taking
her eyes from the bento.
"I-- I wanted to know if you were okay."
"I'm fine, Makoto. I always am." The voice held
no sarcasm. "Are you?"
"A little shaken. How are you so strong?" Makoto
asked suddenly.
"Strong? I'm not strong." She said, self
mockingly. "I'm weak, Makoto. Didn't you know?
Weak. COuldn't save anyone, so I sit ehre,
wallowing in self pity, wondering when the next
day decides it will not come for me."
"Usagi, I hate to bring this to your attention...
but you just kicked the asses of several big,
tall, buff college guys." Makoto said carefully,
chossing to ignore the dark tones. "Those said
guys are not going to be walking for a while.
Tell me where you get this notion of weak?"
Usagi couldn't help but smile.
"Nowhere, Mako. Where's Minako and Ami?"
"Right here." The two popped out from behind the
tree where they had been eavesdropping. Well,
rather, *Minako* had been eavesdropping while
*Ami* whispered about how wrong eavesdropping
was.
Close enough.
Usagi stood up, ignoring thebento on the ground.
"Where's your neko, Minako?" Usagi asked.
Minako shrugged. "With that cat, he could be
anywhere from the North Pole to America. He's
been a little... unnerved... spastic... lately.
Why?"
She didn't miss the eeiry smirk.
"Oh, nothing." Usagi said coyly.
They were silent as she looked over each of them,
almost inspecting them,. in an eeiry way. "That
Rei... the miko? She's one of your best friends,
ne? The dark hair and violet eyes? Pryo?"
"Yup."
"Then everything's cool." Usagi said. "Perfect."
The bell rang then.
Instead of going back to class, Usagi walked voer
to the tall fence that surrounded the school,
jumped over it, and left.
"That's it." Minako's voice was serious. "She's
not human."
"What was your first clue?" Ami asked. "I got
some reading when she was fighting. She's full of
energy, some of it positive, some of it negative.
It's the negative that worries me. And... if she
had been any other person, the two powers would
be fighting, but they're perfectly harmonic in
her. It's like she's supposed to be a paradox."
"So is she our enemy?" Makoto gasped.
"I don't know." Ami said, talking quietly as they
headed for class. "She might very well be."
"So do we act normal?"
"We act normal."
"Easy for you to say." Minako mumbled. "She
invited me for a sleepover. Ikuko, her adoptive
mother, wants to meet her friend."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minako wondered how she'd ever gotten into this.
First of all, Usagi hadn't told the complete
truth. Yes, Minako met Ikuko.
But they were stayuing the night at Haruka and
Michiru's mansion.
Not that Minako really minded. The place was
huge, someone really knew how to cook, and Haruka
was great at telling spooky stories. Setsuna had
a great time showing off some of the clothes she
had designed, and Minako had a great time trying
them on. Hotaru's lamp collection was kind of
spooky but cool, and Usagi had fun giving her a
tour of the house.
"Ikuko doesn't really like me spending the night
here." Usagi said, showing Minako her room,
decroated in silver and blue. "She allows it
because she knows they're the only thing I can
really call family. She knows they understand
what I've been through."
"Where are your family, Usagi? Are they..."
Minako trailed off.
Usagi paused.
"Yes." She said finally. "Mother died... when I
was young. Father left... he died too. I never
had any siblings. Setsuna came to me when I was
really little. I was independent, though. I was
mre of less on my own until the social people
came. I got away from them, and I was found
again. It was hectic, but I liked it. And of
course, no one hardly ever bothered me. I'm
different, and people fear that."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. If I could do it over again, I'd do it
more of less the same way. If I could do it *all*
over again..." She sighed. "None of us would be
here right now. Not even you, Minako."
Minako didn't ask what she meant.
"And they are your family now?"
"For longer than you can remember, Minako." Usagi
smiled wryly. "Anyway, off the serious stuff.
You're here to have fun. Michiru plays a mean
violin, if you'd like to hear. But you're not
allowed to look at the Special Gallery of her
paintings."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because one minute in there and you're
depressed." Usagi grinned. "Michi can be a very
depressing person."
"Visions?" Minako asked suddenly. "Rei has them
too. She told us you did."
"Did you know only senshi have them?"
Minako froze. She swore even her heart stopped
beating for a few a seconds. Usagi was looking at
her with amusement.
"And I thought you were one of the tougher
inners." She said, smiling. "Guess I was wrong.
But you see, with you four guessing about me, I
couldn't very well let you believe I was truly
your enemy."
"So... are you a senshi?"
"I have visions, don't I?"
"Which one?"
"Oh, come now." Usagi was stil grinning. "Let us
deduct this. Sailor Pluto: long green hair and
garnet eyes."
"Setsuna...?...!"
"Bingo! Sailor Uranus: tall, blonde, masculine."
"Haruka! And that means Michiru's Neptune, and
Hotaru's Saturn. Making you...."
"The Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, at your
service."
"Holy..." Minako was quite simply, stunned.
"You're the princess..."
"DOn't call me that." Usagi said coldly. "Listen,
no matter how weird it sounds, the inner senshi
and the outer senshi cannot work toegther right
now. Later, it will be a necessity. Not now." She
grabbed Minako's wrist and forced Minako to look
her in the eye. "You must understand, Sailor
Venus. This is not a battle that the inner senshi
can fight easily."
"Why the hell not?" Minako snapped.
Usagi sighed.
"Minako, I know you're the more seasoned of the
senshi. You were Sailor V. I *saw* what you did
to those guys that wouldn't give up so easily.
You had to kill them. You had to watch as their
blood flowed over your boots, and you had to
remained strong.
"Tell me, in all honesty, do you think Sailor
Mercury can handle that? Do you think Mars can
take that? Do you think Jupiter could take her
enemy's neck and snap it like a--"
"Alright!" Minako exclaimed. "I see what you
mean. No, they couldn't. I know my team, Moon.
You know your's. They're about as compatable as
water and oil."
"Actually, if you want the truth, water and oil
looks like water and dirt compared to the inners
and outers. We're here for the dirty work,
Minako. Maybe it wasn't intended to be that way,
but that's how it turned out."
"I understand."
And for the most fleeting of seconds, there was
not a doubt in Usagi's mind that Minako *did*
understand.
"Come on." She said cheerfully. "You must meet
Athena-- the real Athena. She's in the cheery
galleries. Oh, you'll love her. She's absolutely
gorgeous in her panther form..."
"Panther?"
"Oh, yeah! She's originally a human, like Luna
and Artemis, but she changed into a panther. And
she must have a smaller, pocket-version form for
travelling."
"You think Artemis can turn into a panther?"
Minako asked wistfully. "Talk about back up..."
"I think Artemis is a Lynx, but I'm not sure. And
Luna's a lioness. But they don't use those forms,
or they can't. One or the other."
"Why wouldn't they?"
"Too noticable. And Athena says it can get
exhausting." Usagi shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I
hate using the shapeshifter spells. Too
confusing. And not to mention if you get a word
wrong you end up as a toad."
"How would you know?"
"I was croaking 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' until
Athena stopped laughing and told me the counter-
spell." Usagi shuddered. "One of the worst things
that's happened to me. It is *not* pleasant to be
a toad."
"Really? I wouldn't know." Minako said, blinking
innocently. "So, what was the counter-spell?"
Usagi flushed and mumbled something.
"What? I didn't hear you."
"Athena had to change me to a human and for it to
be permenant I had to get someone to kiss me."
"WHAT?!"
"Dirty old magi think up the worst thing." Usagi
nodded.
"So... who'd ya kiss?"
Usagi blushed even more and the infamous mumble
returned.
"Who?" Minako asked impatiently.
"Haruka."
"NO WAY!"
"Yes way."
"Why Haruka?"
"She was the first person I saw. Michiru wasn't
too happy, especially when Haruka said I was a
good kisser." Usagi blushed even harder, so that
she resemebled a tomato. "Actually, Haruka's a
really good kisser."
Minako giggled.
"So you're not the perfect warrior like Rei rants
about. That's a relief."
"Perfect? Not even close." Usagi grinned.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"No."
"We should..."
"Yeah, who knows what could happen?"
"It's wrong."
"Aw, com'on! Ikuko won't mind if we drop by for a
spur of the moment chat!"
"It's not far away.
Ami glared at both of them.
Makoto smiled innocently.
Rei's brow was furrowed in concentration.
"I think we should." She annouced finally.
"Minako might be in danger. If it looks like
they're having fun, we jsut march off and be
happy. If she's acting weird, we transform right
there and kick ass."
"I like!" Makoto exclaimed.
They both ignored Ami's protests as they dragged
her the few blocks to the Tsukino's house.
"Hello, Ikuko-san. We just wanted to talk to
Minako-chan for a couple of seconds... would that
be possible?"
Ikuko frowned.
"No, I'm sorry. Minako and Usagi left to spend
the night at Haruka's house."
"Oh, oka-- what?!" Makoto shrieked.
"Oh, yeah. Usagi wanted to let Minako meet the
rest of her family." They didn't miss the slight
sour note. "But I understand. If you want to talk
to Minako, you'll have to go there. And tell
Usagi that her new grandparents are visiting
tomorrow, that she needs to come home a bit early
to clean her room, please." She gave them the
address, in one of the better districts of Tokyo.
It was now Ami that led their march, walking at a
speed Makoto found hard to keep pace with.
Through the districts of Tokyo, the gentle girl
literally shoved people out of her way. No man,
woman, or child was safe from her.
"Hold up Ami!" Rei panted, running up and jerking
the blue-haired genius to a stop. "We just can't
go waltzing in for battle! We need a plan, so we
need you!"
Ami blinked.
"Oh yeah! Okay, here's the plan..."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm getting majorly bad vibes, here." Michiru
said suddenly, standing up in the middle of the
race. Haruka grumbled.
"But I'm about to win!" She whined. "I just
passed that asshole..." She gave a futile motion
to the television where her car had just passed
one of her worst rivals, but she stood up anyway.
Minako grinned.
"I'll go out and find the girls." She said,
jumping up. "See you." She exited the room with a
wave.
Hotaru pulled a sulking Setsuna to her feet and
they looked at Usagi, who grinned manically as
she rose to her feet, cracking her knuckles
before she held up her brooch.
"Moon Lunar Power, Make up!"
"Uranus Planet Power, Make up!"
"Neptune Planet Power, Make up!"
"Saturn Planet Power, Make up!"
"Pluto Planet Power, Make up!"
From ehr place in the doorway, Minako watched
them transform before she ran out. She almost ran
right into Ami, who was posed to knock on the
door.
"Ami!"
"Minako!"
"What are you doing here?!" They both yelled at
the same time.
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Yeah, well, there's a youma somewhere." Minako
said. "Henshin yo, we've got to get to it."
"How do you--" Makoto started, but Minako had
already called out her henshin words, and as they
very well couldn't talk to her while she was
transforming, they too transformed.
"This way!" Venus yelled, catching a glimpse of
Sailor Moon's silver fuku a few yards ahead in
the sunset.
The outer senshi led them, letting the venusian
soldier catch a glimpse when the former needed,
or started going off track.
This did not go unnnoticed by the other senshi.
"There it is! I can see it." Jupiter yelled, and
before any of them could act, she attacked.
"Supreme Thunder!"
Mars jumped as the bolt of lightning went right
by her, close enough to singe her hair.
"Watch it!" She yelled. But Jupiter was no longer
paying attention.
"World Shaking!" Unlike Jupiter's thunder, the
golden sphere hit the youma, and Sailor Moon
leapt down from the rooftop she'd been standing
on, Saturn beside her. Sailor Moon scooped up the
soul that the youma had dropped.
"This isn't it!" She yelled in frustration. "Damn
it, why can't they choose a good target once in a
while?" She returned the soul to the unconscious
boy that lay a ways away and then turned to face
the youma, who eyed her hungrily.
"Not yet, Jun." The commander from before
appeared beside the youma. "She doesn't know."
"Know what?" Sailor Moon spat, aiming her staff
at him. "I'm sick of your games."
"Oh, this is no game." The commander grinned.
"Not a game at all. You see, one of our
scientists made a delightful machine, Sailor
Moon. It allowed us to find the owner of the Pure
Soul."
"And?" Uranus said, noticing how Pluto potioned
herself between the commander and Saturn.
"Well, it's quite interesting, actually." He
seemed ot be enjoying himself. "There are *two*
pure souls. Both of them shall work quite well.
But you see, there's a catch."
"And that would be?" Sailor Venus spoke up.
The commander sent her a dirty look before
answering.
"Both of the pure souls belong to the messiahs of
this world."
Sailor Moon jolted like she'd been shocked. She
backed away from the commander a few steps before
she realized what she was doing and stood her
ground.
"Yes, Sailor Moon. You and Sailor Saturn hold the
souls we need."
Uranus stepped in front of her princess.
"You'll have to go through us first, bastard!
Space Sword, Blaster!" She yelled, hitting the
commander square on.
"Attack!" He called to the youma, as he was
thrown back.
"Get out of here!" Venus yelled ot Sailor Moon.
The moon senshi shook her head, her smirk gone,
her face a stony mask.
"No." She said. "I cannot." She wearily raised
her staff and took out the youma with a call of
"Selene Crescent Erruption!". She looked at
Saturn, before giving a quick nod to Pluto.
"Do it." She ssaid quietly. Pluto nodded, and
opened a portal.
"Inside, Saturn." She said. "We will wait at the
gates."
"But--" Saturn protested.
"Taru-chan, please." Sailor Moon whispered,
walking closer ot lay a hand on her senshi's
shoulder. "We don't need two targets running
around. I can take care of myself. I know you
can, but it shall be easier for all of us if you
go where you will be safe."
Saturn sighed, and stepped inside the portal.
Pluto followed, and the portal closed.
"Now, Commander, you deal with me!" Sailor Moon
turned around ot face the commander, being held
at bay by the duo of the outer senshi. She
motioned that the inner senshi should step back.
"I have had enough." She said softly. "Surely,
your hell hole won't miss one of you. Solar
Explosion!"
The two senshi jumped back so fast Uranus
stumbled and fell, landing on her bum, but she
still kept scooting back. This weapon was made to
be feared.
A light, almost innocent looking golden thread
appeared out of thin and and wove an airy circle
around the commander, who looked at it with
amused interest.
His amusement turned to terror as the circle grew
closer and closer, finally winding around him in
a seamless rope.
It exploded.
The commander barely had time to let out the
pain-filled scream that sounded much too human
for the inner senshi to handle.
"What did you do!?" Mars yelled, looking at the
nothingness where the commander had been.
Uranus managed to smile at the inner senshi.
"A more painful attack she developed." Neptune
muttered.
Sailor Moon leaned on her staff heavily.
"It would be me." She said loudly, making them
look at her, but she was staring at the ground.
"It's always me. Has anyone else noticed that?
I'm always the one to live. I'm always the one
they're after."
"Sailor Moon..." Venus reached the senshi before
Uranus or Neptune could stop her. "It's okay."
"No it's not." Sailor Moon murmrued. "Everyone
will die again, I know it." She looked up at
Minako. "I missed you." She whispered. "You were
my best friend, Mina-chan."
The last part was said a bit louder, and it
reached the inner senshi, who looked at Venus
curiously.
"What does she mean, Venus? And how does she know
your name!?" Mars demanded.
Venus flushed. Sailor Moon glared at them,
straightening up.
"Don't ask questions that have no true answer."
She said, in a low dangerous voice as her silver
eyes glared daggers. "I am not attacking you,
that should keep you satisfied." Her voice was
clipped and cold. "Uranus, Neptune, they'll send
reinforcements, so get ready. Venus, you'd better
get your senshi and come up with a good plan
really fast."
Venus nodded and huddled the senshi in a very
football-like way.
Uranus and Neptune approached their drained
leader.
"I just sent out a call to Athena and Luna."
Sailor Moon said softly. "I couldn't reach
Artemis, but I told Luna to get him. "I'll need
their help when if the time comes." She looked at
both of them. "Don;t either of you try anything
stupid, alright? If my soul is taken, i don't
want either of you to be noble or heroic. I'm
like a roach, right? Isn't that how Shadica put
it? I'm like a roach... no matter how hard you
try, you can't get rid of me. Promise me, Haruka!
Swear!"
Uranus looked away, but nodded, scowling. Neptune
sighed.
"My princess, we can't do that." She said. "Don't
make us."
"Then I'll order you." Sailor Moon said coldly.
"You will not taken heroic measures to save me.
Understand?" Ignoring their glares as they
nodded, Sailor Moon turned to the panther and two
moon cats who had approached.
"The same goes for you three. Nothing heroic."
She directed her stare to Luna and Artemis. "Can
you two transform?"
Artemis stared at her blankly, but Luna nodded.
"I remember the spell." She said, looking at
Artemis. "But if he does, I'll eat my tail."
"I remember! I think..."
Sailor Moon glared at him.
"if you don't remember, don't try it." She said.
"Last time you tried it and didn't remember the
whole, you would up as a blob of fur."
"It took the magiis half an hour to figure out
how to return you." Athena added, as Luna
transformed into a lioness.
"I remember it." Artemis insisted. "It goes like
this." So, with his cathood at stake, Artemis
began to mumble in a harsh, gutteral language.
Much to their surprise, he transformed into a
lynx.
"Ha!" He crowed in triumph. "I told you I
remembered it! Eat that!"
Luna glared at him.
"Don't start, please." Sailor Moon said. "Now, I
need you three to be my back-up, okay? If
something goes wrong, your job is to give us the
element of surprise. Got that?"
They nodded solemnly.
"Thanks. Athena, I owe you one." Sailor Moon
smiled at her pet. "No hero stuff, okay? If I'm
taken, there's still hope."
"Yes, My princess."
"And don't do that. See you."
"Hai." The three cats slunk away into the
shadows. Sailor Moon stared after them for a few
seconds before turning to her senshi.
"They are coming." She said, her voice as calm as
it could be. "Prepare yourselves."
She might have said more, but her voice was
drowned out by the sound of the very heavens
exploding.
~'~
Later, Uranus had grumbled that there had simply
been no time. Everything happened too swiftly,
none of them would have ever have known what had
happened had it not been for the Mercury
computer.
There was a loud crack, thunder, gunshot,
something of the like. Large shadows,
monstrosities of shadows, suddenly loomed up out
fo the ground, surrounded Sailor Moon, and then
pulled her underground, before any of them could
even blink, let alone scream a warning.
She was gone, quite simple.
"Oh my..." Luna whispered. "This isn't good."
"You don't know the half of it." Uranus said
grimly. If Shadica's still in charge... Sailor
Moon is in for a bumpy ride, to say the least."
"We've got to go talk to Usagi's parents."
Neptune said. "We must tell them what has
happened."
Athena nodded.
"Yes, it's the only way. We must tell them."
The trio walked off.
The four inner senshi looked at one another.
"Oh, dear." Venus said. "I've got to go, girls.
Usagi-chan will... miss me." She looked at each
of them. "Don't be angry, I'll tell you how she
knew my name later, okay?"
Venus took off in the same direction the outer
senshi had gone.
"She knows something." Mars said almost instantly
the second Venus had left earshot. At the very
least, Mars was supicious of their leader, the
newest addition to their group.
"What gave you that idea?" Jupiter rolled her
eyes.
"Those shadows took Sailor Moon to a subspace of
sorts." Mercury said, tapping the keys of her
computer in a flurry. "She's disappeared from
this dimension entirely."
"They know where she went, how much will you
bet?" Jupiter said.
"I know they do." Luna said, coming out of the
shadows, now a normal cat. Artemis followed her,
also normal. "She was taken to the Dark Sun
Warrior's lair. They'll take her soul and kill
her."
"And probably torture her beforehand." Artemis
added grimly. "I remember Shadica. She didn't
like Serenity at all."
"And now with Sailor Moon being the way she
is..." Luna looked terrified. "Dear lord, if half
the world isn't blown apart, I'll be grateful."
"And she does have the ginzuishou." Mars added.
"And she's insane." Jupiter muttered.
~'~
Sailor Moon was only mildly surprised, but very
indignant. She hadn't expected Shadica to stoop
this low just to capture her. A sneak attack?
Dishonorable. And she hated it when people were
dishonorable.
She looked at the walls around her. They were
cold, thick stone, and strong, for she'd thrown
her Selene Crescent Erruption at it, and there
was only a scorch mark... not a single crack.
She'd stopped after one; she knew she had to
preserve whatever energy she had. The shadows had
dumped her here, so she knew she was somewhere in
Shadica's realm.
But the door- and window-less walls were very
frustrating. She couldn't hear anything on the
other side of them, but she was almost certain
someone was watching her. Her senses told her so
and she always trusted her senses.
Sighing, she sleaned against the wall and
scooched down into a more or less comfortable
position, one she could jump out of quickly but
didn't make her legs or back feel like they were
about to fall off.
"Oh Shadiiiicaaaaa...." She called, smirking in a
way that could be considered insane. "I'm getting
a little boooored in hereeee."
She jumped up quickly as the four walls and
ceiling vanished.
She was staring right into a pair of black eyes.
"How horrible to see you." Sailor Moon said,
without change in tone or expression, taking a
step backward and spinning in a circle, taking in
her new surroundings quickly, noting possible
escape routes and the impossible number of youma,
and the two commanders flanking Shadica.
Not good. Only two esacpe routes. One of them
would require going through a solid block of
armed youma and the other would require crossing
the room.
The first was going to be very difficult and the
latter was suicide, under the present condition.
"The pleasure's not mine." Shadica replied
smoothly. This exchange of insults took place
everytime they met.
"Well... I suppose you're going to try to kill
me?" Sailor Moon asked, turning to face Shadica,
tearing her eyes away fgrom the horde of youma.
"Oh, no." Shadica said.
Sailor Moon started in surprise as a wall
suddenly sprang up behind her, and a sense of
deja vu` hit milliseconds too late as she found
herself being lifted off the ground and secured
to the stone by her wrists and ankles.
Definatly deja vu. She'd seen this very thing
happen thousands of times. Back on the moon, when
Nehelenia stole dreams, and now, Nehelenia's
daughter used the same method, slightly refined,
to steal souls.
It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off,
that her soul was still inside her.
"Wha..."
"So nice to see you're human, Sailor Moon."
Shadica arched an eyebrow. "That's the first
thing I've seen on your face other than that
arrogant smirk you love to wear around me." She
took a step closer. "You don't feel so confident
now, do you, moon soldier? Without your friends
and toys to save you? Such a pity you never found
your prince... he might help you right now.
"Alas, you're going to pay for what you did to
me, Sailor Moon."
Suddenly, the shadowy room was thrown into relief
as torches on the sides of the walls suddenly
burst into violet flame.
Sailor Moon flinched, and a shudder ran through
her body.
The only things beautiful about the face that was
presented was the thick, silken hair the exact
color of chesnut that surrounded it, and the
color of the eyes, both a clouded emerald green.
The skin was badly scarred, and was more a
reddish-violet color than the color the skin
should have been. The lips were slashed and
angry-looking splothes of red jarred her cheeks,
her nose off-center, crooked, and a long, deep
scar ran from her left eyebrow to her chin.
So that was why she was wearing a high-necked
gown, Sailor Moon realized, keeping her eyes on
the floor.
"I still have my scars too, Shadica." Sailor Moon
said quietly. "But you never did hit my face."
Shadica did not reply for a few moments, but then
she smiled, cruely.
"After this is all done, Sailor Moon, you'll have
to live with your perfect, innocent face to
torture you every time you look into a mirror,
just like it has for your entire life." Her voice
dripped in sickening sweet honey. "Because I know
the way you think, my insane little moon soldier.
It's you... or no one."
Sailor Moon opened her mouth to protest, but only
a choked gasp came out.
"Commanders, why don't you give Sailor Moon a
welcome? And make sure you leave her face
alone... we don't want anything marring it.
Remlins, go stand watch and alert me when the
moon soldier's friends come for her... especially
when Saturn arrives."
She smiled at the look of dawning horror on
Sailor Moon's face as the blonde realized what
her words meant.
"Gag her if she screams to loudly. I want to
rest."
Shadica swept from the dungeon of her palace as
the two commanders advanced towards Sailor Moon,
fists clenched in glee.
~'~
Haruka hesitated.
"I can't do this!"
"Haruka, they're perfectly decent, honest, kind
people. We can't just let them wonder! It took us
days to find Shadica's kingdom last time. By then
everything had been said and done and Usagi was
half dead!"
"She *was* dead."
"Haruka, it wouldn't be right. Whether she said
it or not, Usagi loved this family."
"What if..."
"Haruka."
"But--"
"Tenoh-san? Kaioh-san? May I help you?"
Michiru and Haruka both looked at Ikuko, who now
stood in the doorway.
"Er... may we come in, Tsukino-san?" Michiru
said, solemnly. "We need to speak to you."
"It's a long story." Haruka said, as Ikuko led
them inside. "But you must remember it's true."
Kenji and Shingo gazed at the pair, confused, as
they entered the den.
"Did Usagi ever tell you how her parents died?"
Michiru asked, after Ikuko had sat down, under
Haruka's advise.
"No... we didn't ask. The social worker said it
was a sore subject."
"That's because they don't know either." Haruka
said. "Only five people on this planet know,
including us."
"This is where the story gets strange." Michiru
said, closed her eyes. "It all happened a
thousand and some odd years ago, when Usagi was
first born."
At their odd looks, Haruka grinned.
"We told you the story was a bit odd. But just
you wait. We haven't got to the juicy parts yet."
"Haruka, please. The day Usagi was born, her
father was bruattally assassinated by supporters
of Beryl. Beryl was Queen of Atlantis then. You
see, Usagi's father was King Kronus, King of the
Sun. Her mother was Queen Serenity, the queen of
the moon. Usagi was princess of the moon. And
yes, the moon was livable then.
"Usagi grew up without a father, but we were
around to keep her company. She never knew what
happened to him, and all the better, for when she
was seventeen, on the eve of her eighteenth
birthday, when she was to recieve her birthright
and assume the throne, Beryl had finally gained
the power to attack. We were the first to die, as
we protected the solar system. She took each
planet down, one by one, until she reached the
moon." Michiru paused there, and Haruka took up
automatically.
"It was a massacare. People were being slain left
and right... women, children, men, animals... it
didn't matter to Beryl's troops. The inner senshi
fell at the gates of the palace, and the army
swarmed over the palace walls, and Beryl herself
took the life of Usagi's financee, and then Usagi
took her own life to keep Beryl from triumph."
Haruka sighed, and closed her eyes and though she
could see it being played out in her mind before
continuing.
"Queen Serenity saw this happen, and outraged
that such a thing had been done that she took out
the ginzuishou and used it's power to give her
own life to set everything right... to send the
senshi and Usagi to the future, so that we might
have another chance at life. She sealed beryl
away in a negative plane, for she could not kill
the other queen without killing her daughter's
soul."
Michiru sighed, "If only there could have been
another way. We know Serenity couldn't have meant
for her daughter to grow up the way Usagi did.
Usagi... she used to be a wonderful, kind, caring
person who despised any kind of violence. She
still is, somewhere underneath. But she's built
walls around herself. She's afraid of getting too
close in case of being hurt so terribly again.
"And now, Shadica, the daughter of Nehelnia, the
queen of the dark moon, another enemy of Queen
Serenity's, has captured her. She's been taken to
some hellish place, and we don't know where."
Michiru looked up at the silent Tsukinos. "Last
time this happened, we got to Usagi only just in
the nick of time... she has scars all over her
body from the torture Shadica placed on her. She
was dead... we only just managed to save her. We
don't know if we'll make it this time, because
Usagi has the ginzuishou now, and she's... not
exactly sensible. She might become rash and blow
up the world."
"She can do that?" Shingo asked.
"Kid, I'm betting on it." Haruka said. "Now, to
prove our story. Uranus Planet Power, Make up!"
"Neptune PLanet Power Make up!"
~'~
Sailor Venus ran though the streets blindly. The
only thing guiding her at the moment was a faint
link to Usagi, and where it led her, God only
knew. Her brain only vaguely noted the graffiti-
covered walls and sirens that were around her,
only subtly registered the shadowy figures that
shifted, the broken glass beneath her sandals, or
the baorded-up warehouses and desolate
surroundings as she practically flew by.
Damn it, she felt the pain her princess was
feeling, and knew that the outer senshi, at
least, felt it too. Why weren't they following
it? Couldn't they sense that it grew stronger as
they drew nearer?
And it was. She knew she was getting closer.
Blindly, she took a left at a street corner and
knocked over someone in her attempt to make a 90
degree turn so quickly.
She ignored him as he yelled after her, for she
had finally found what she was looking for. It
was so like the shadows around it that any normal
human would have immediatly overlooked it, but
here it was.
The portal to the Black Palace.
The man was still yelling at her, and her mind
finally registered it. She spun around.
"Listen, you jerk! Unless you want to get a Love-
Me Chain where the sun doesn't shine, you'd
better take your insults and shove it!"
The man glowered at her. Not that she could
really blame him, when she thought about it
later. She was a sixteen year old in an absurd
costume, with mussed-up hair and an insane look
in her eyes.
"Well... here goes!" She announced to no one, and
promptly stepped into the portal.
The man stopped yelling abruptly.
He looked around and sighed.
How did these things always happen to him?
He walked up to the portal he'd been inspecting
before the blonde had came crashing up and did
the only thing he could--
He walked into it.
There was a swirl, and a vague sense of wind
rushing by, and then it was now he that slammed
into Sailor Venus.
"What are you doing here?" Venus hissed in a
furious whisper.
"Where are we?" He asked, at the same time. Venus
clamped a gloved hand over his mouth and dragged
him into an alleyway, or at least something that
resembled one.
"In the Dark Palace." She murmured.
"I thought so." He replied. "Well, who are you?"
Venus was staring at him in amazement.
"I'd ask the same!" Her voice was indignant. "How
do you know about the Dark Palace! And I'm Sailor
Venus."
"Ah. Yes, I remember you... you look a bit
different, though. I'm Raidon."
It was only too clear from the expression on her
face that the name didn't ring a bell, but it
didn't really matter, because the next second,
Venus was doubled over in pain.
"Holy..." She gasped. "Serenity.. com'on! We've
got to get Serenity!"
"The PRINCESS is here?" Raidon nearly shrieked,
as Venus grabbed his wrist and began to weave
through the corridors like she'd walked them
every day of her life, slipping into nearly
invisible indentures in the walls to avoid youma
and commanders that seemed to prowl every corner.
"Yes... Serenity... here..." Venus gasped,
clutching her side as she dragged them both
along. "Shadica... has her. This... way..."
Raidon's brow furrowed. He knew of the link
between the princess and her senshi... but what
was the princess feeling to make Venus be in such
pain?
He realized he didn't really want to know the
answer as Venus pulled him to a suddenly stop in
front of a pair of thick metal doors. Even
through them, screams of a young girl were too
painfully audible.
"Crescent... Beam... Shatter!" Venus managed to
shout, as she tried desperately to block out the
pain she was feeling so she'd be able to
concentrate on rescuing her princess.
The beam was strong enough, thank god, to shatter
the doors.
And both of them wished it hadn't been. Venus's
pain was completely forgotten as they both
stared, dumbly, at the scene before them.
It takes the human brain approximately point two
seconds to register things.
It was point two seconds too short, or perhaps to
long. As soon as Venus recognized the bleeding,
half-conscious girl in the tattered remains of a
senshi fuku, she flew into a flurry of instictive
motion, sending crescent beams and Love-Me Chains
at the youma faster than she could call them out,
and went at the two commanders with a fury,
taking them out by over whelming them with hit
after hit.
All this happened too quickly for Raidon too
follow, but he did know what to do as Venus dealt
with the enemies present. He rushed to the
princess's side, for he knew her even then, and
somehow got her down from the wall and draped his
jacket over her.
By then, the room was a mess of blood and mangled
corpses, and Venus stood, breathless.
"We have to get out of here."
"Your first clue, Sherlock?"
~'~
It was hard to say who was more surprised, the
outer senshi duo or the Tsukinos, as a blood-
splattered Sailor Venus and a tall, black-clad
man staggered into the house, carrying Usagi, who
looked worse than dead.
"She needs help." Venus said. "Two commanders
were going at her... the only thing they *didn't*
touch was her face."
"She's lost a lot of blood, and we can't take her
to a hospital, for they'd know in a second what
she really was." Raidon was also drenched in
blood, but unlike Sailor Venus, the blood that
covered him was not his own.
"I've got that covered." Hotaru said, walking in
behind them. "Get her on the couch, and I'll see
what I can do."
Raidon didn't waste any time, he moved quickly,
and Kenji slipped out of the man's way as he laid
the blonde on the sofa, and Hotaru knelt beside
her, violet light already shining from ehr palms.
"Well, Raidon. As usual, you show up when all
Hell breaks loose." Haruka couldn't believe she
was still able to make jokes at that moment.
"Yeah, you know me. Always running into gorgeous
women in need of assistance. It's a dirty job,
and I got blessed with it." He flashed a quirky
grin in spite of himself at the taller woman.
"Don't start, you two." Michiru said. "Ikuko-san,
Kenji-san, Shingo-san, this is Raidon, the shadow
spy." She motioned towards Raidon. "And of
course, Aino Minako, Sailor Venus."
"Hello again." Venus said. "Sorry about my
ppearence... Hotaru, will she be okay?" She asked
anxiously.
"I think so..." Hotaru murmured. "Just a little
more..."
She fell back as the light died suddenly, as
Sailor Moon jumped up to catch her friend.
"Baka Hotaru!" She whispered. "The ginzuishou was
already..."
"It wouldn't have in time." Hotaru replied.
"Dehenshin, you're indecent, Odango."
Sailor Moon looked down, shrugged, and
dehenshined in a flash of light. Her fatigue was
only obvious now, but it was decidedly ignored as
Venus dehenshined also, the blood vanishing.
"Thank you, Minako." Usagi said, eerily calm for
the events that had taken place over the last
hour.
"Just don't do it again, okay?" Minako said,
futilely attepting to sound pissed. "Hell creeps
me out."
"Hey... this is nice, and all that..." Raidon was
the first to speak. "But you've got these nice
folks who could probably use an explanation and I
need to get this blood off before I'm picked up
by some human cop." Raidon said, picking up his
jacket. "I'll see you, Princess. Probably in a
few hours, if my divination abilities are up to
par."
He gave Michiru a saucy wink, making Haruka's
eyes narrow, and then let himself out the door.
"Where'd you dig up that guy, Usagi?" Minako
asked. "He's got the worst sense of humor."
"You don't want her to answer that." Haruka
growled. "Because she really did dig him up."
Minako's eyebrows quirked but she didn't say
anything more.
Usagi loooked wearily to the three humans.
"Well... I suppose those two have told you just
about everything...?"
"Oh, this is so cool! I KNOW SAILOR MOON! SHE
LIVES IN MY HOUSE!" Shingo was having nothing
less that convulsions. "OHMIGOD! THIS IS--"
"Shingo, time for bed." Ikuko crashed down on her
son's rantings like a boulder on top of a beetle.
Glaring at his mother for the simple fact she
dared command him to leave when five legendary
sailor senshi were standing in his living room,
he trudged up the stairs, muttering about the
injustice of parents.
"Usagi, you must be tired. I'll make you some
tea, and you can sleep, if you'd like. We
understand." Ikuko said, as she was jsut as calm
as Usagi was. "Or you can go with your senshi."
"If... I'd like to stay... if that's alright..."
Usagi said hesitatly. "Sleep... would be very
nice."
Haruka was dragged out, laughing, by Hotaru and
Michiru. Minako lingered a few more moments to
make sure the girl was as alirhgt as she could be
before she called a senshi meeting and headed for
the temple.
It was only when Usagi had locked herself inside
her bedroom and sat, staring at her mirror, that
she finally let herself cry.
~'~
Ikuko had insisted that school wasn't necessary,
but Usagi said that she had to keep a normal life
for as long as she could.
"Please, Ikuko-mama." She'd said, pleading. "This
could be the last time I see them... Shadica
won't be pleased I've escaped."
Ikuko had relented, not that she had any choice.
Shingo stared at Usagi in awe, not quite
believing she was his idol.
"Usagi?" He asked, as she threw her notebooks
into her bag.
"Yeah?"
Shingo hesitated.
"Could-I-have-your-autograph?" He asked really
fast, and turned a bright red.
Usagi chuckled.
"Course you can. And if they don't believe you,
tell me and I'll make a special appearence just
for you, okay?" She said, not really knowing why
she'd said it as she dug out a piece of papaer
and signed it 'From Sailor Moon, to Shingo
Tsukino. I'll always be there.'
He snatched it out of her hands and looked at it,
wide eyes.
"Really? You will?"
She looked at him solemnly.
"I will. I swear to you, by the House of Selene
and by river of Styx, I will always be there if
there is breath in my body." She said.
"Oh, that-is-so-cool-thank-you-so-much-onee-
chan!" He said.
She shook her head.
"I've got to go, Shingo-onii-baka." She said.
"I'll pick you up from school... or will Sailor
Moon?"
"Please?"
"Okay, Sailor Moon will be there." Usagi grinned.
"Maybe with company." She added, backing out of
the door.
She wasn't surprised when, halfway down the
block, a tall figure dressed in black fell in
step beside her.
"I don't believe I thanked you." She said, after
they had walked for a while.
"There was no need. Was it wise, Hime-chan, to
give that oath? What if one day you cannot be
there?"
Usagi looked up at him with venom in her silver
eyes.
"That day shall never come." She said, and then
her voice softened. "I now have a link to them. I
shall be able to follow it if they are in need."
"How did you do that?"
"In their sleep, Raidon. They've been too kind...
I did it a long time ago." She smiled. "Perhaps
it was foolish, but I've never been known for
wisdom."
"Shadica's on the warpath." Raidon remarked,
after a few more moments of silence.
"I know." Usagi said, as the gates of her school
came into view. They stopped before them, and
Usagi leaned up and gave Raidon a quick kiss on
his cheek. "Stop calling me princess."
"Okay, princess."
"I'll see you, Raidon. And don't tell me when,
either."
"After school, Usagi."
"I hate you."
"Love you too." He smirked at her, his dark brown
hair falling into his gold-colored eyes as he
walked away. Usagi grumbled about what a cute
jerk he was as she entered the schoolyard.
And was promptly attacked by Minako.
"Are you okay, Usagi?" She asked, her blue eyes
worried. "You were an awful mess when we got you
out of there."
"Hotaru and the you-know-what have just about got
me up to normal, Minako. I'm just a little
tired... thank you." She looked behind Minako to
see a sulky Makoto and a cheerful Ami. "Did you
have trouble?"
Minako grinned.
"You bet! They're furious with me because I won't
tell." She said, in a low voice.
"Minako, I dont' want to get you in trouble. I
don't mind." Usagi looked up at the pair. "They
were nearly as close to me as you, Minako. You
should... we should... tell them."
Minako nodded, now sober.
"How's Raidon?" She asked.
"He's fine. You'll remember him soon, I believe.
He's going to meet me after school..."
"Hello, Usagi-chan." Ami finally broke into the
low conversation their friend and the silver-
haired girl was having.
"Hello, Ami-chan. Mako-chan. I believe we've got
a little time.. I think I need to talk to both of
you... in a more private area, please." She said,
shooting a look around the school yard.
Minako didn't wait for a reply. She grabbed her
friends' wrists and dragged them off to the side
of the building.
Usagi followed, and faced the two girls, Minako
retreating a few steps away.
"Well, I know you're both angry at Minako because
she won't tell you what she knows about Sailor
Moon."
Ami paled and Makoto flushed.
"I don't want the inner senshi broke up over
something as trivial as that. I realize I haven't
been here very long, and if I'm intruding, so be
it. I knew who you were after seeing you a few
times. After all, your disguise magic wasn't
intended to hide you from my eyes. So,
considering all hell's breaking loose anyway, no
pun intended, I suppose I'm at liberty to screw
with your minds."
"Who are you?" Makoto demanded, her anger rising
quickly.
"I'm Sailor Moon."
~'~
At first, neither of them knew how to react to
that statement. Who would? The quiet, violent
girl that
took on a small army of goons single handedly was
also the violent, loud, and insane Sailor Moon.
It clicked in Ami's head almost immediatly, and
for a moment she wondered how she had been thick
enough not to get it. It made so much sense it
was abonimable.
Makoto's eyebrows raised to a point of
impossibility.
"You're joking?"
"No." Usagi replied. "Just as you are Sailor
Jupiter, I am Sailor Moon."
"But..."
"We saw you being captured." Ami spoke up.
Usagi fell silent as Minako stepped forward.
"She was, Ami-chan." Minako said quietly. "That's
where I was last night, and that's why i was so
torn up. I went into the Dark Palace, and with a
little help, we got Usagi out of there. It was
almost too late."
"Hardly." Usagi said. "Shadica was going to keep
me alive, though everything. She wanted to hurt
me more than she already had." Usagi's eyes held
a deadened look. "She knew that I hated to see
others hurt when it could have been me in their
place."
"Well..." Makoto began, but the clanging bell cut
her off. "Rei's gonna be surprised."
As they headed off for class, Usagi called over
her shoulder, "And I know you call me psycho!"
"You are!" Makoto yelled back.
"So?"
"Ga..." Makoto threw her hands in the arm as she
stalked inside the school building. Ami rolled
her eyes and followed.
"You really are psychotic, Usagi." Minako said.
Usagi grinned.
"I have to be. Only psychos can do what I do. Did
you ever see a sane person jump at a youma with
only a stick?"
"No."
"There you go then. See you, Minako."
~'~
Usagi drummed her fingers nervously on her
desktop and shot another look at the clock.
School was almost out and there hadn't even been
a hint of a youma attack. It was strange,
compared with past results.
And it was almost making her as jumpy as a cat.
She jumped up as the bell rang, adreniline
rushing through her body before she calmed
herself down, carefully ignoring the strange
stares from her classmates.
She grabbed Makoto in the hall.
"Mind helping me with something?" She asked in a
low voice, carefully pasting a cheerful look on
her face to foil any observers.
"Depends." Makoto replied suspiciously. "What had
you in mind?"
"Shingo wants Sailor Moon to pick him up from
school, and I thought company would be nice...
whadda say?" Makoto sent a look around the
hallways, and then nodded.
"Alright, then. Lead the way, oh great Usagi."
~'~
Shingo glanced up one more time at the clock.
Several of the more cynical of his classmates
were huddled in a group, while others looked at
him in admiration. Oh, to know Sailor Moon...
"Hey, Shingo! Psst!" A familar voice hissed. He
spun around, and saw two sailor-suited figures
and a tall man at the side of the courtyard.
"Princess, the things you do for family." Raidon
commented, rolling his eyes.
"Shut up, Raidon!" Jupiter and Moon both snapped.
Raidon muttered something under his breath before
looking at Shingo.
"We're here!" Jupiter announced, catching the
school yard's attention quickly. "Sorry about the
delay... we ran into a little trouble."
"You mean we ran into a leather-clad imbecile."
Sailor Moon corrected, jabbing her thumb in
Raidon's direction. "Mr. This-Is-A-Really-Bad-
Idea."
"Sailor Moon, I'd like to introduce you to
Mika..." Shingo pushed a shy girl towards the
sailor warrior. Sailor Moon crouched until she
was eye level with Mika.
"Hello, Mika. You're a friend of Shingo's?" At
the girl's awe-filled nod, Sailor Moon smiled.
"Well, then, you can call me Ren. How would you
like that? And this is Sailor Jupiter."
"That isn't Sailor Moon!" One of the cynics
yelled. "She's a fake!"
"A fake?" Sailor Moon stood up, and her staff
appeared out of thin air. "I think not, kid.
Selene Crescent Erruption!"
Suddenly, a tree no longer existed.
Every single child looked from the pile of ash to
the grinning Sailor Moon.
"Oh, wow! Can we have your autograph?!" They
cried, crowding around the trio.
Sailor Moon inched closer to Raidon.
"Now will you tell why this wasn't a good idea?"
She asked, sighing a piece of paper for a little
girl. "What's your name, sweetie?"
"Otomeko."
"Okay... To... Otomeko... Friends Forever...
From... Sailor Moon... there you go!" She handed
it to the girl who ran off giggling.
"I'm not allowed." Raidon's eyes followed Otomeko
with a pained look on his face. "I must go. I
will see you."
With a whirl of black, he stalked away. Sailor
Moon shrugged.
"So, you're Toruh-kun, eh? Alright, here you go.
Having fun, Jupiter?"
"hehe, You bet!" Jupiter looked like she was
standing in Utopia as she was bombarded with
pieces of paper or bookbags, various articles of
clothing, rocks, leaves, napkins, etc.
Sailor Moon shook off the slight uneasy feeling
in the pit of her stomach as she winked at
Shingo.
"Alright, alright! Make a line, please! You'll
all get an autograph, I promise!"
~'~
Usagi walked into school the next day with a
smile. She'd never felt so happy before. The
children... Athena was right. The more she didn't
think about the past and the more she was around
the innocent, she felt like she could fly.
She smiled at her teacher as she walked into the
classrom and took her seat in the front row, for
once glad to sit there. The teacher smiled back,
tentative at Usagi's new mood. All the times he'd
seen her, she was scowling and ready to jump.
Teraguicki-sensei waited until the class had all
arrived and the bell rang before picking up a
piece of chalk and writing on the board.
"Copy these down neatly on a piece of paper and
hand them in. The Headmaster is requiring every
class do this. Apparently all the schools are."
He said, before Umino could ask why. "I do not
know why."
Usagi looked at the words.
"Friends forever... moon... jupiter... thunder...
see you again... maiden? Sir, what relevenace do
these words have?" She asked, writing them down
in her neat, tight writing.
"Your guess is as good as mine." He smiled at her
as she handed in her paper. "After you're done,
get out your Algebra homework and your red pens
while I give these to the Headmaster, excuse me."
As the last student added their's to the pile, he
picked them up and left the room, muttering about
'stupid petty investigations'.
Usagi frowned. There was something strangely
familar about those words...
She shrugged them off and ran a finger over a
deep, jagged cut, only beginning to heal, on her
arm. This one was new. Sighing, she pushed her
sleeve down over it and looked at her paper and
forgot about the words on the board.
It was halfway through her next class, Advanced
Chemistry II, one she had with Ami, that a
messanger from the office knocked solemnly on the
door.
Kiko-senshi opened the door and conversed with
him angrily for a few seconds before straitening
up.
"Tsukino, you're wanted in the office." She
snapped, pointing to the door. Usagi gave Ami a
questioning look but the blue-haired genius gave
no indication she knew anything except a slightly
brooding shrug. Disguising most carefully through
years of practice her confusion and suspicion,
she picked up her bag and put it over her
shoulder, slipping one hand inside to finger the
blade she knew was there as she walked to the
door. She almost stumbled in surprise as she saw
Makoto standing slightly behind the messengar.
She smiled benignly to the sensei, as if to say,
"Oh, yeah. I know what this is all about." before
following the pair. She waited util she heard the
door shut and they were around a corner before
moving with the speed and grace that were usually
reserved for the large jungle cats, grabbing the
collar of the boy's uniform-- never mind the fact
he weighed much more than her-- and pinned him up
against the wall.
"What's going on?" Makoto asked, before Usagi
could. All the better, for the words Usagi had in
mind were much less kind and a lot more
agressive.
The boy stammered as he looked into the pair of
silvery eyes that held nothing but anger and
suspicion at that moment, and the pair of
confused emerald eyes behind them.
"I-- I-- don't know!" He said in a rush. "They
just told me to come and get you; there's a
couple of cops in Headmaster's office, and none
of them look very happy."
"Oh, this is terrific." Usagi let the boy go. He
stood there, unsure. "Makoto, d'you think Shingo
narked on us?"
"No, he only knows you. Not me." Makoto shrugged.
"And he's not the type, Usagi, really. Maybe it's
something else. I mean, you and I don't have the
best of records."
"If it helps, they just finished going through
those papers everyone had to write." The boy
offered.
"Those papers?" Usagi frowned. "What on earth
could that have to do with anything? Well, at
least they're not going to procecute me for first
degree murder, com'on, Mako."
With false conidence she told the boy to lead the
way. He looked at her doubtfully. It was only
widely known that her sanity didn't stretch far.
He led them to the only too familar office and
left them in front of it with instructions to go
on in.
Makoto looked at Usagi.
"Ready for a fight?"
"Maybe there won't be one."
"Is there isn't, I'll start one." Usagi grinned,
and pushed open the door.
She and Makoto looked warily at the two men, who,
instead of the blue uniforms they'd been
expecting, wore very expensive suits and looked
like something out of the American movie MIB,
before entering the room. Makoto closed the door
ebhind her, and Usagi lookd questioningly at the
Headmaster, who cleared his throat and stood up,
an amused smile on his face.
"Tsukino, Kino, these two gentlemen belive that
you are two of the legendary Sailor Senshi. They
say they have handwriting samples from the senshi
Jupiter and Moon and and matched it to you."
Makoto paled.
"That's absolutely ridiculous." Usagi said,
smiling. "Of course, who wouldn't want to be, but
if I were Sailor Moon, then I'd be in a lot
better shape than I am."
Both the Headmaster and Makoto gave her dubious
looks. Usagi was in better shape than most
professional athletes.
"And the Sailor Senshi aren't even real. There's
no way I could be Jupiter." Makoto interjected,
perhaps a bit to quickly.
"We didn't say who we thought was who." One of
the suited men said slyly. Usagi's smile faltered
a bit and Makoto slapped herself.
"You can't do anything about it." Usagi switched
tones. Her voice was soft and dripping in venom,
with cool, calculated calmness. The headmaster
sat, his mind reeling. "I could blow this whole
place up with the flick of my wrist."
"It's not illegal to save the world." Makoto
glared. "It isn't like we asked to the job."
"It is illegal when you destroy public and
private property. Ice damage, fire damage, etc.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars." The other suit
snapped.
Usagi narrowed her eyes. Crossing the office in a
couple of well measured steps, she came face to
face with him.
"Sit." She said, pushing him down into the chair
behind him. "Listen here, buddy. You want to
discuss damage to the earth? You're lucky there's
still an earth to be bitching about. I only
showed up a few months ago but I was fighting
long before that. Without the sailor senshi you
would have been dead a thousand years ago. We're
the only thing that kept you from being a slave
to God only knows what evil deity. If you want to
yell at *us* for your petty damage bills, you
give the word and we're off this planet, and I'm
dead serious. There's eight other planets and a
hundred moons I can make livable with four
words."
"Of course, you won't have long to celebrate."
Makoto's confidense picked up after Usagi's
speech. "Shadica will devor this planet in a
second. It doesn't matter to us, really. We're
not even human, you know. We don't care." The
lies fell so easily from her lips she wondered if
they were even lies at all.
"I wouldn't put it past them." The headmaster
backed them up. "You've reviewed their records.
How many more of you attend this school, Usagi?"
Usagi frowned. "Two more." She looked to Makoto,
who shook her head slightly.
"And are they as violent as you?" One of the
suits asked haughtily
Usagi growled, and opened her mouth to answer,
but Makoto beat her to it.
"We haven't had the kind of history Usagi has, so
we're not as agressive, thank you. Usagi, we
don't have to take this. Let's just go."
"I don't think so." Usagi and the two police said
at the same time. "And you will do what about
this?" Usagi retorted. "Alright, Makoto. I see
your reasoning."
"You can't go!"
"Yes, we can." Usagi said dangerously. "Unless
you want to try to stop us. And then you can get
a taste of just WHY your planet hasn't been taken
over yet." Her eyes narrowed.
They hesitated. Usagi flung open the door and
pushed Makoto out ahead of her and shut it behind
her. The messengar boy stood there, looking
stunned.
"Lemmee guess. You eavesdropped." Usagi rolled
her eyes. "Makoto, it was one of those stupid
kids. God, if only Raidon wasn't so fucking
cryptic." She hit the wall so hard it shuddered.
"I figured. Should we get Ami and Minako?"
"Might as well. They're human, not stupid.
They'll figure out that the two people you're
always with are Sailor Senshi, and then they'll
nab 'em" Usagi nodded. "Alright, kid. You're
going to go around and pull our friends out of
class."
"And if I don't?" He had no idea where those
words had came from.
"Then you won't have a long life."
~'~
"How... this... argh!" Ami muttered. They were on
their way to get Minako. It had only taken three
words: "Someone found out," and Ami realized
immediatly.
"We'll explain later." Makoto said, as the boy
explained quickly to the disgruntled gym teacher
that Minako was needed urgently. Minako was even
more reluctant to leave in the middle of the
game, but once she saw Usagi, her face immediatly
turned to a mask. She told her teacher cheerfully
that it was a family emergency and she wouldn't
be back in class after a few moments of
conversing with the other senshi.
"Listen," Usagi said, after they had ditched the
boy and headed for the front doors. "You can't go
home. Well, Makoto can, but I wouldn't advise it.
They know where you live. I'd suggest you hit the
outs and lay low. Go home just long enough to
change into something inconpicuous."
"Like what?"
"Oh. Well, you'd better come with me, Ami. You
probably don't have anything like that. Mako?
Minako?"
"I've got it covered." Makoto nodded.
"You know me, Usagi." Minako grinned morosely.
"Ready for anything."
Usagi nodded. "Meet me at the outers' place.
Minako, you can show Mako the way." Usagi said,
grabbing Ami's arm and leading her left,
explaining what the 'outs' was and how you acted,
etc...
Ami wasn't very good at acting, it turned out.
Finally, Usagi gave up.
"Just say what's necessary. Stay back a little.
I'll dress you up right--" Usagi nodded. "Yup.
You'll make a terrific loner, Ami. And this will
kind of let you in on why Goverments never last
forever. They underestimate the anarchists and
the lowlife."
"A great term paper." Ami agreed. Usagi laughed.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Ami, you're about to go to a place where you'll
get your head blown apart if you so much as look
at a person wrong and all you can think about is
what a great term paper it'll make?" Usagi pulled
Ami inside the mansion. "Hotaru! Haruka!
Michiru?"
"I'm here." Hotaru said quietly, stepping around
a corner
"Good. Someone snitched on us, Taru. Remember
that place I staked? We're going to have to stay
there. I've got to get Ami fixed up."
Hotaru nodded. "Alright. I'll have it stocked
up." She grabbed a jacket and headed out the
still open door, shutting it behind her.
"Don't ask." Usagi said, leading Ami up the
stairs. "It's a kind of thing we have going on.
We're prepared for everything."
"Including the takeover of the goverment by rabid
monkeys?" Ami asked, just because she felt like
asking something stupid as Usagi pushed her into
a room recorated in sharp, clashing tones of
black and red.
"There's a place in Aspen with mile-high electric
barb-fences and a security system that puts Fort
Knox to shame, including Haruka's collection of
guns in the left wing, that's for hostal animal
attacks and or slash possible takeovers." Usagi
grinned flippantly, throwing open a closet door.
"We actually sat down and named every stupid and
not thing that could possibly happen. Setsuna
came up with a good few herself." She pushed
hangers full of clothes apart until she came out
with something. "Such as evil fish growing legs
and mutating into fishpeople and trying to
exterminate humanity. That one makes you
wonder..."
"Here." She said, throwing it at Ami. "It's too
little for me now but it should fit you.
Bathroom's over there." She pointed to another
door and resumed
pushing hangers apart.
Ami accepted the clothing and locked herself in
the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, Ami looked at herself in the
mirror.
"I'm not going ANYWHERE in this!" She said
loudly.
"You will if you don't want arrested. We have to
stay low until we figure what's going on." Usagi
called back, a little too cheerfully for Ami's
mind. "Now, come out and let's see you. Is it too
tight?"
"Not really..." Ami pulled down on the hem and
then up at the neckline. "It's not cutting off my
circulation or anything, but I..." She blushed so
brightly that she thought she would blow up.
"You what?"
"Couldn'twearanythingunderit."
"Oh. Of course, Ami. That's why it's called...
oh, never mind." Usagi said. "Come on out! I've
got to give you something."
Ami muttered a few less than polite words she
must have learned from Usagi and opened the door.
She was surprised to see the girl had changed
into a pair of cutoffs and a tight silver tanktop
with a crescent on it and glared.
"How come you get to wear THAT and I get to wear
THIS?"
"Oh. I just wanted to see how you'd look in that.
Pretty good, too." Usagi couldn't stop herself
from laughing at Ami's expression as she gave the
girl a pair of leather shorts and a shirt similar
o her own.
Ami returned to the bathroom.
"What?" Usagi called after her. "Haven't you ever
worn a leather minidress before?"
"NO!" Ami came out five minutes later and all but
threw the dress at Usagi, who laughed and threw
it in the closet. Usagi then fished something out
of her pocket and threw it to Ami, who caught it.
"Hit the switch."
"What switch?"
"No! Wait." Usagi leaned over and turned the
object right side up before hitting a hidden
switch. A six-inch blade flashed. Ami nearly
dropped it.
"A switchblade?! These are illegal!" Ami yelped,
looked at it like it was a venomous snake ready
to strike.
Usagi looked at her like she was insane. "Ami, of
course they're illegal. But you have to have
something in case you can't henshin. Aaammmiii,
this isn't going to be fun, or simple. I'd rather
go to a safehouse but the nearest one is miles
away and we have to be in the thick of things."
"But... but..."
"Would you rather a gun or something else?"
"NO!"
"Then hush. I never said you had to use it, did
I? I only said 'just in case'." She gave Ami an
odd smile the other girl couldn't read. "Now,
come on. Minako and Makoto should be there any
moment, and Hotaru's probably waiting for us."
"You're very frustrating."
"I'll accept that as a compliment and be glad I
do." Usagi grinned as she all but pushed Ami down
the
stairs.
"But-- but--- but---"
"No more buts, Ami-chan, or else I'll hang a
really big sign on your chest that says 'I'm A
Senshi' and set you in front of the police
station."
Usagi had a tone of seriousness mixed in with the
amusement that Ami had to shiver at. She had no
doubt that Usagi would actually do such a thing.
She didn't really have much time to ask, anyway.
At that exact second, the earth split in two.
~'~
Usagi let out a string of curses in various
languages that Ami was almost as startled at as
the shaking earth. She cursed herself for
actually panicking and thinking the earth was
cracking.
"God damn it!" Usagi yelled. "Always at the worst
times, Shadica! Always! Can't you just take a
fucking loss and live with it?" She transformed
and ran out the door, into Makoto and Minako, and
a confused and startled Rei.
"Henshin yo!" She yelled at them. Quickly they
obeyed, wondering why they accepted the order so
quickly without question. "Prepare yourself."
Sailor Moon advised them, as the violent shaking
became worse. "She's kind of pissed."
"Who?" Mars asked irritably. "And someone please
explain to me what the FUCK is going on, because
obviously you guys know a lot more about
EVERYTHING than I do! And when did you become so
comfortable with the fact USAGI IS SAILOR MOON?
Or all this?"
"Rei-san," Sailor Moon said, as respectully and
calmly as she could. "You're being a bitch.
Sorry. Calm down, kick some youma ass, and then
you'll get the story if any of us are alive."
Sailor Mars's face grew red as she threatened to
errupt, but thank the gods, she never had the
chance.
A roar that shook the very heavens nearly
deafened the senshi as countless numbers of youma
suddenly poured over the street. Blood was
splattered over their mutated bodies, making only
too clear that many lives had already been taken
in the youma's attempts to find the senshi.
Sailor Moon heard Mercury gag as the smell-- the
smell of a carcass that had set in the summer sun
for days, the too-sweet smell of death, one that
Moon was too used to-- rolled over them like a
wave of doom.
"Keep the fire down." She advised. "The black
will go up when it hits them. Youma are very
flammable and explosive."
Venus chuckled in spite of herself as she took
aim. "Venus Love Me Chain!"
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
"Shining Aqua Illusion!" The three attacked
arched and intertwined, Mars grumbling about
Moon's command of 'no fire', and slammed into the
horde, taking out a considerable number. Sailor
Moon grinned as this happened.
"Yes!" She cried. "Shadica, you moron. You've
sent fourth-grade youma... these will be easy!
Mars, what are you waiting for? Selene Crescent
explosion."
"Make up your damn mind already! Burning
Mandala!" Mars fired her attack right as Venus
shot off her Crescent beam. The two made another
portion disappear, while Moon's attack took out
all those rushing forward. She kept it going as
Jupiter began firing one Supreme Thunder after
another, and Mercury cast a fog to obscure the
youma's vision, shouting instructions to the
senshi on how to see through it.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
"Dead Scream."
"Silent Glaive Surprise!"
The four outer senshi appeared on the scene at
the same time and took no time finishing off the
last of the youma with ease.
"Mercury, turn the fog OFF!" Sailor Moon yelled
almost immediatly. "She's sent Commanders!" She
added a word that made Mercury clear the fog
instantly.
"Pluto, get Saturn out of here!" Sailor Moon
shouted. "Now! Only return if we need her to end
the war... permanently." She said the word with a
meaning that was unclear to the inner senshi but
only too obvious for the senshi of Destruction,
who cursed magnificently before disappearing into
the portal Pluto conjured.
"I promise nothing, Princess." Pluto said,
hesitiating. "You know that, right?"
"I dig it, Pluto. Now scam." Sailor Moon said
cheerfully, before sobering and turning to the
outer senshi duo. "Problem." She said sharply.
"Usagi's been found out. So's Makoto. We'll go
into Plan 6 after Shadica's over with, got it?"
At their affirmative nods, she continued.
"I need you six-- yes, Michiru, you're working
with the inners-- to take care of the Commander
she sent. I'll head her off-- yes, Haruka, I
sense her, she's on this realm-- and try to
surprise her." She made a quick motion to the
just-now-appearing Athena, who understood and
took off. "Work like a team, damn it."
She turned on her heel and began running. Mars
started after her but was stopped by Venus's firm
grasp on her shoulder.
"No. Venus said. "Let her go. She's got a score
to settle with that bitch-woman. Let's take care
of Big Bad and Burly over there." She pointed to
the Commander standing in the midst of the
carnage.
"Fine." Mars readied her powes. "Alright, Ugly!
Time to dance! FIRE SOUL!"
~'~
Sailor Moon ran towards the energy she felt, and
hoped it was Shadica. If it wasn't, then the
daughter of Nehelenia had some serious
competition.
No, it was Shadica. More powerful than Sailor
Moon remembered. No, not really. She had sensed
Shadica was hiding something... but this?
Compared to before, it was like comparing a nerf
gun to a tank.
"Not a tank... more like an Uzi, but still..."
She corrected her own thoughts aloud, and then
laughed at the simple irony. She was thinking
about Nerf guns when her own doom was pending.
"My god-- miss? Are you Sailor Moon?"
Sailor Moon looked up, startled. Of all the days
she had been Sailor Moon, no one had ever
approached her. She reckoned that someday it had
to happen-- every time she rampaged through the
streets they wouldn't always be empty... but it
was still a shock.
She looked up from the recesses of the alleyway
into a pair of eyes that were surprisingly
normal. Sailor Moon could only imagine what she
looked like-- a youma had managed to get at her,
leaving bloody gashes on her arms and side,
leaving her splattered with both her own and
youma blood. She was breathing hard, and her hand
was bound to be a wreck.
"Yeah, I am." She replied.
The woman, clothed in a pair of black pants and a
white blouse, was accompanied by a man wearing a
suit.
"Dear, you look a mess. Been saving the world
again? You should have those looked at. Here, my
husband's a doctor-- Hiro, you will, won't you?"
The woman pleaded.
Sailor Moon shook her head, trying to ctach
control of her breathing.
"Thanks for your concern... Don't have time...
Got to fight..." She managed.
"Nonsense." The man said, advancing. "That looks
awful. Were you fighting a dragon?" He asked,
kneeling to inspect one of the gashes.
Sailor Moon chuckled as she recalled the youma's
appearence: green and scaley. "Close to it. This
really isn't necessary, though. I heal fast."
"If you're running off to fight, Miss Moon, then
you need this bandaged. Nekoto, get my bag."
Even though she protested loudly, Sialor Moon
allowed him to bandage her side, giving in only
because Shadica had paused between the Dark Realm
and this one. Nekoto made cheerful conversation
between the tense three.
"Have you been fighting long?" Nekoto asked
pleasnatly, handing Hiro rolls of gauze. "You
don't have to answer dear. Just thought I'd ask."
"I don't mind. All my life, and then some."
Sailor Moon answered with a wince as peroxide was
poured into one of her wounds. She saw Nekoto's
scandalized look and added, "It's okay. It's my
choice."
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen." Sailor Moon saw no danger in answering
the question. "Almost seventeen."
"So young!" Hiro said, tightening the last
bandage and standing up. "You have many scars."
"Yeah. I noticed." Sailor Moon sighed. "And I'm
about to get a lot more. I'm facing against the
daughter of a woman I had to kill." Another sigh.
"The woman, Nehelenia, tried to steal people's
dreams... the only way to stop her was to kill
her. After that, we discovered she had a
daughter..." Sailor Moon blinked away the tears
of exhaustion. "Thank you. I probably won't see
you again, and if I do, you won't recognize me."
She quirked a funny grin. "Well, I've got to
run." Shadica was on the move. "Thank you again."
With a jump that surprised even her, she was on
top of one of the buildings that surrounded the
alley and was off.
Nekoto looked to Hiro.
"Well, she was she a nice young lady. No wonder
Setsuna-san wanted us to help her. Imagine,
running off to fight in that condition."
"Do you think she will win?"
"It depends on if she really is as strong of mind
as I think her to be." Nekoto glared at Hiro.
"Want to go watch?"
"Of course."
"Good. I haven't been dead seventy years just to
miss out on the battle of the millennia." Nekoto
said, and she disappeared with a quiet popping
sound. Hiro followed suit.
~'~
'Everything can't have a happy ending.'
*Shut up.*
'You're talking to yourself, you know.'
*What part of shut the fuck up didn't you
understand?*
Sailor Moon shook her head as she ran over the
rooftops. She hated arguing with herself; it was
another indication she actually was as looney as
she thought she was.
'Of course you are.'
*Thank you. I appreciate your commentary, I
really do-- SHUT UP!*
She was getting closer. She carefully ignored the
fact the sky was turning pitch back and the sun
was going scarlet. She pretended not to notice
the nasuea that settled in her stomach or the
growing of negative energy in the air around her.
She tried not to thnk about how this could be the
beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.
She wouldn't dare to let her thoughts linger on
the disturbing information that once again the
world lay upon her shoulders.
Everything was on her.
She just a start when she turned a corner and
came face to face with Shadica, who, even then,
in all her scarred glory, took a startling
resemblence to Nehelenia.
Shadica looked happily at Sailor Moon, her
grotesque lips forming something that had only
the slightest remsemblence to a smile.
"Now!" She said, raising her arms to the
darkening sky. Green lightning flashed as the
portal between her world and Usagi's world was
completed, and a deafening, too-human roar filled
the air as the faces of thousands of eager youma
looked over the edge of it, awaiting their
mistress's command. "Now, this world shall
finally feel the power that is the dark moon.
Pretty princess, prepare to suffer for what your
kingdom has done to me-- for what *you* have done
to me."
"Shadica, you coward." Sailor Moon hissed,
stepping closer. "You are afraid to fight me,
face to face. You fear defeat. Why not face me as
a warrior instead of overwhelming me with your
army?" Her words were serious but she said them
as though they were a funny jingle instead of the
challange they were.
Shadica's eyes narrowed.
"Call me coward if you will, Princess Serenity.
We know who is the victor of this battle. Even if
I shall fall to Death, His victory shall not come
by your hand." Shadica paused, and looked at
Sailor Moon with something akin to sincere
curiousity. "Can you die? Are you lost forever to
Death's whims?"
Sailor Moon paled at Shadica's words. It was
something her subconscious pondered at, but
directly she'd never dared to challenge Death.
She didn't know...
Shadica watched the conflicting emotions in her
opponet's eyes.
"You don't know, do you?" She asked, amusement
and horror filling her tone. "You really don't
know if you can die." It wasn't a question, but a
statment, one that Sailor Moon didn't challenge
for its honesty. "That scares you, doesn't it?
The idea of living forever scares you, you who
does not fear. Worse than defeat, worse than
loosing all you love, the idea that you will live
forever with your memories scares you, Pretty
Princess."
Sailor Moon began to take a step away from
Shadica and her accusing voice, but thought
better of it, and stood her ground. her back
straightened and she drew forth the ginzuishou
and willed it to form into a more physical
weapon, and discovered herself holding a double-
edged crystal sword.
Her eyes flashed silver fire as she looked up to
Shadica.
"Enough of this." She whispered feircly, letting
the wind carry her words to Shadica. "We will
fight. And then Death shall decide who looses."
"Very well then." Shadica had her own blade, dark
blue venom in metal form. "I will be the one to
decide your doubts."
They ran at each other, and the blades connected
with a noise that shook the heavens as the gods
looked on, knowing that it would be simple whim
of fate who would truly win this fight.
~'~
"FIRE SOUL!" Mars cried a second time, releasing
twin fireballs that slammed into the quickly
shrinking group of youma. Several of them burst
into flame and died.
She looked back desperatly at Sailor Moon's
vanishing figure. She didn't really like the
girl, it must be said, but to let her go off
alone... it wasn't right, she felt it in her
bones. She could sense Shadica's devastating
power, and Sailor Moon's strength. They were
matched too perfectly.
Both were paradoxes. Usagi balanced perfectly in
the ever-so-thin gray line between good and evil,
between insanity and sanity. She teetered one way
and then the other, but she never fell.
Mars didn't know how Shadica had fallen but she
had. The warrior she had never met anywhere but
her nightmares had fallen into a pit and death
was her only way out.
She knew that Shadica knew this, too.
"Venus! To your left!" Jupiter yelled suddenly.
Mars whirled just in time to see the youma as
Venus went into a frenzy of action. Mars was so
obsorbed in watching the golden warrior finish
the yuoma she didn't notice the one that decided
to take advantage of her distracted state.
"Shining Aqua Illusion!" Came a cry from
somewhere behind her. Mars jumped as a hand came
down, slicing the air where she had once stood,
and then a gust of forsty air. On pure instinct
she moved her arms into a position as thought she
were holding a bow and arrow.
As though this were some kind of cue, and a
portal opened where the last of the youma stood
ready for their destruction, and from it poured a
new army, more youma than they had ever hoped to
see.
The outer senshi duo surged forward, Neptune with
her mirror and Uranus with the deadly sword.
Mars felt the fire of her namesake in her hands,
and she pulled back on the strings of the
imaginary bow, cohertent thought leaving her as
instinct took over. A flame ripped through her
soul, shattering all the barriers that had been
there before. The stone of ruby in the bow upon
her breast changed from a perfect circle to a
heart-shape, and her fuku changed only slightly
as she took careful aim at the youma.
"Mars Flaming Sniper!" She cried, releasing a
arrow made from pure heat into the youma. These
youma were stronger than the ones from before but
her arrow took out as many as it could, leaving a
trail of dust in it's wake.
She felt the eyes of every senshi, inner and
outer, upon her. She flushed and looked at her
comrades.
"What?" She asked. "Do I have something on my
face?"
They looked away. She had changed, and she knew
it. She walked closer to the youma, away from the
inner senshi that stood back, using only their
powers to keep the youma at bay, and took her
fire and let it take the rough shape of a blade
and dove into the youma. The fight was like
pludging into a pool of grace, each movement and
thrust something a part of ehr that had been
hidden. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess but
several words jumped at her, and it was several
seconds before she realized she was chanting them
like some mantra, as she did it gave her
strength.
"Protect... Fight.... Triumph..."
Jupiter watched this with emerald eyes that knew
only something of Mars's actions as she too felt
the barriers of her strength break. She riased
her arms to take back her power and began to
concentrate on it like she had never before, and
with a cry of triumph she grasped her will.
"Jupiter Oak Revolution!" She cried, releasing
bolt after bolt of lightning into the youma.
Her mind had never been clearer than it was at
that moment; She was doing what she had been born
to do, and she knew that she wanted to die one
day like this, fighting for soemthnig, with a
cause and a purpose.
Venus needed no encouragement. She knew what this
was and accepted it fully. She looked to Mercury,
who was watching with an air of confusion and
knoweldge.
"Give in to it." She whispered to the blue
soldier. "We must do this."
Mercury nodded, sudden recgonition dawning in her
face. She liked to do things neat, and she knew
how to do this. Reaching up towards her home, she
took in her hand her henshin stick and gave into
the power that radiated from it, icy strength and
cool courage. She smiled softly, knowing that she
wanted this more than anything as she felt it
vanish from her fingers and a coolness running
down her arm and possessing her body, changing
her.
"Mercury Aqua Rhaspody!" She murmured, taking
back the harp that had laid dormant so many
hundreds of years.
Venus merely smiled, closed her eyes, and let the
Change overtake her. She kissed her palm and gave
into Aphrodite as the new sailor team began to
wreak havoc on the youma, Uranus and Neptune
exchanging a secretive smile. They knew these
senshi, for they were of teh Change also, given
to them by the senshi of descruction.
"Venus Love and Beauty-- SHOCK!"
~'~
Far above the war taking place, a man with a
shock of dark hair and an anchient armor watched.
"Usako... my Serenity..."
~'~
The walls of Tokyo's elite district seemed to
shrink away as Shadica and Sailor Moon broke
their apart their swords and retreated a few
precious steps, eyes narrowed, surveying the
other, looking for some sign, some hint, of
weakness or distactnment, tryin to find a way to
make the other loose their gaurd, even for the
slightest, most mercury of seconds, too look away
or to be confused. They both knew, that as sure
as liquid water flowed and musical birds sang,
they were matched perfectly in everyway.
Sailor Moon allowed her eyes to steal to the
blade of her sword, a metal so pure and white it
was almost crystal. She saw through the sides of
her eyes how dead the land around them now was,
and she smiled.
Purity. What a joke.
A true smile, one that few had ever been given
the priveledge to see. Shadica, though startled
by this, kept her sword ready to move. She felt
the massing of her armies behind her, and knew at
her command, after she properly subdued the
creature of paradox before her, they would rush
forward and attack the earth.
"This is the dead land."
Sailor Moon's voice was loud in the deafening
silence, so loud that Shadica nearly dropped her
weapon, and Sailor Moon ran forward, to attack.
Shadica brought her sword up only just in time to
block the blow.
"This is the cactus land/ Here the stone images/
Are raised, here they receive/," Sailor Moon's
eyes were in another place as her sword clashed
against Shadica's like a demonic source of
punctuation to each line of the poem; Shadica
furrowed her brow. What Lunarian trick was this?
"The supplication of a dead man's hand/ Under the
twinkle of a fading star."
They both froze at the new voice, Shadica ready
to overpower Sailor Moon sightly with a low cut.
"T.S. Elliot. The Hollow Men. Good choice, one of
my favorites. But, my Princess, do you really
have time to recite a poem to Shadica?" Sailor
Moon cursed magnificently as she recognized the
voice.
"A poem?" Shadica said scornfully. "You attempt
to distract me with a mortals' work?" The blade
of her sword dipped so fast that in the white
warrior's moment of distraction she didn't jerk
away in time.
A thin, red line appeared on her arm.
A singular drop of blood, followd by a thicker
steream, trailed from just below her should. Both
she and Shadica watched in shock as it slowly
trickled down to stain the gloves that adorned
her hands.
Sailor Moon slowly began to glow, and the Gown Of
Serenity took place of her uniform as she glared
venom at Shadica. Her eyes promised pain.
"I didn't--- I thought-- never--" Shadica
stuttered, before regaining control of herself.
"First to bleed, first to fall, Pretty Princess."
She proclaimed loudly, mocking the line Serenity
had once spat at her in contempt, a forever of
minutes ago, on the first time they had met.
"I may be the first to bleed, but you shall NOT
be the victor of this battle." Each word was
bitten off with the rage she felt. Each word
maginifed in the voice was was Serenity. Each
move of the sword a thousand times more graceful,
a thousand times more sure, a thousand times more
natural than they had been before.
Shadica retreated the smallest of steps. Her eyes
narrowed. Only once had she seen Serenity, the
ghostly princess that was Sailor Moon's true
form.
And then she had fallen, lifeblood gushing from
her wounds.
She brushed the fiant imagine away that danced
before her eyes and she held her sword up, a
double-edged formation of darkness, and pointed
it at Serenity's chest.
"Raidon, leave this battleground." Serenity said
in a low hiss. "If I loose this because of your
nonsistant babble, you will know the true reason
why they didn't want me to carry on the name of
my mother."
"Fine. I know when I'm not wanted. I shall go
watched activities of your senshi, then. They
have all received the Change."
Outwardly, this had no affect on Serenity. Her
eyes full of cold fire remained deadlocked on
Shadica. But inwardly a great burden was lifted
from her shoulders. If she died, Venus could now
take over. Her cousin, companion, friend. The
only one she had ever really been close to, a
thousand years ago when she was perfect and pure.
"I call upon Selene." She said quietly. "My
Goddess, my Mother, my Savior, and Gaurdian."
Shadica's eyes widened. She didn't know what
Serenity was doing, but she had a sick feeling, a
suspcion of what it could be. With a roar that
was anything but human, she dove at her opponet,
and fully buried her sword into the princess.
Time stopped. Serenity gagged, but continued in a
whisper, the sword that was still clenched in her
hand glowing softly as her lifeblood began to
pour from her body in a scarlet river.
"I call upon you to grant me strength to purify
this planet. To help those that are lost to be
found again. I call upon you to give me power to
win. I call upon you to end this circle of death.
I call upon you to let the fallen angel be
granted wings once more."
She found, that as everything began to swirl
before her eyes, she became lighter. Her sword
exploded with light, transforming back into the
beautiful crystal that was her soul's courage.
"I call upon you, Mother, to grant my Sister
Venus the light to continue in my place. I
call..."
Shadica backed away in horror as the light began
to burn at her. SHe heard the pain-filled shrieks
from her army of youma and with her dying breath
she cursed the goddess of the moon.
Serenity looked up as the images around her faded
to white and a person she remembered from her
first life appeared before her.
"My Serenity." He said, offering her his hand.
"Endymion!" She found she could move again, and
she stood up and rushed into his arms, not
noticing her body was left upon the cold ground.
"Let's go, Serenity. Your mother and family wish
to see you again. I love you."
"I love you too, Endymion."
Wings of the purest color appeared on her
shoulders as she walked away from her earthly
life to be with those she loved again.
The fallen angel had been lifted.
~'~
Venus froze as the youma they had been fighting
suddenly vanished, shrieking in terror as a
strange light took them. Uranus and Neptune
looked curiously at Pluto, who appeared from a
portal, a subdued and sobbing Saturn at her side.
Without explanation, Saturn flung herself into
Neptune's arms, crying in a language Michiru
only vaguely recognized as the language of
Hotaru's home.
"What happened?" Jupiter demanded.
Pluto sighed.
"It's over." She said. "It's over. You, Aino
Minako, Sailor Venus, Warrior of Love... you now
take the place of the Princess."
As the meaning of this statment sunk in, Mars
lifted her eyes to the sky.
"I never knew you well, Usagi." She whispered.
"But I think you were probably the most sane
person on this planet."
She never heard Serenity's scornful reply--
"Of course I was!"
~'~